Australian scientists conduct trials for Hepatitis C vaccine

In a bid to save people from deadly Hepatitis C, Australian scientists have developed a vaccine that is undergoing trials. Around 200 million people worldwide are suffering from this disease.

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease that affects liver. The disease is caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The infection generally does not have symptoms, but can results in scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, becomes evident after many years. In certain cases, those suffering from cirrhosis develop liver failure or liver cancer.

The vaccine which is under trial is a result of a breakthrough work done by Heidi Drummer, associate professor from Burnet Institute and his team from its virology centre.

For the development of vaccine Drummer and her team overcame a major hurdle in HCV vaccine research, and went on to develop a vaccine candidate that protects against a number of different HCV strains, says a Burnet statement.

"Hepatitis C has a great ability to change its structure and evade the immune response. This makes vaccine development challenging," Drummer has been quoted as saying.

"Our vaccine is unique as it contains only the most essential, conserved parts of the major viral surface protein, eliciting antibodies that prevent both closely and distantly related hepatitis C viruses from entering cells, thereby preventing infection," Drummer stated.

Drummer presented these findings at the prestigious Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Summit (ImVacS) in Cambridge, Massachussets, US, on Aug 13.

--With inputs from IANS

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