Not synthesised but grown, in vats full of E. coli with a plasmid which has been spliced with the gene for a particular surface protein from Borrelia burgdorferi. Then the protein is filtered out.
Sounds like a non-trivial problem to replicate the whole process.
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On 9 July 2003 the pharmaceutical giant settled the class action suits with Sheller, Ludwig & Bailey as well as several other smaller law firms. The final agreement included over 1 million dollars in legal fees for the prosecuting lawyers, but provided no financial compensation to the ‘vaccine victims’. The plaintiffs’ attorneys stated that the voluntary removal of LYMErix™ from the market accomplished the main goal of the suit.Or to put it another way, the enrichment of attorneys by over $1000000 accomplished the main goal of the suit.
Sounds like there is nothing human-specific in LYMErix. It was tested in horses and mice and other mammals before certifying it for humans. Potency of batches was checked with mice. Adjust the dosage and you’re away!
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I read a different story about the vaccine. First, it was relatively inefficient, it offered 80% protection and only against one of the 3 possible pathogens (the only one widespread in America, but there are 2 other ones in Eurasia). Second, there were apparently numerous accidents with that vaccine, particularly for patients who had arthritis. Therefore, it did not seem worth taking the risks, especially when one considers that Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics.
Side note: if you are bitten by a tick and either you have an extended reddening around the bite (coin size) or the tick has stayed attached for 24hours or more, go to your doctor. That is the moment when antibiotics are efficient, not after months when you will have the other effects.
Other note: I am entirely pro-vaccination and I am bitten by ticks regularly, so I am at risk for lyme disease. I still think it was a good idea to pull that vaccine from the market, if it led to the reported accidents. Vaccines and other medicines are pulled from the market regularly and usually for a good reason.
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I live near a park in the UK that has Lyme disease, and basically I won’t take the kids there. Shame. In fact, I won’t walk in the long grass there like I’d like to.
Reason is, people mostly don’t even know they’ve been bitten by a tick, so time goes by and they develop Lyme disease, and that’s a whole world of complexity and medical unknowns. Was talking to an allergy specialist last week who had seen five kids in a week who’d been bitten by ticks in that park and developed some kind of symptom or other.
It is odd that the vaccine isn’t developed and deployed, even simply in the localities where the ticks are.
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I would just take the kids there, but check each time for ticks. If you pull them quickly, the risk is pretty low. But that is just me.
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Jesus. I’m sorry to hear that and really glad you’re still with us. I live in the Hudson Valley of Ny and we are constantly dealing with Lyme. Everyone in my family has had it; I’ve had it twice, my partner four times and my daughter is just recovering from a massive infection that left her with temporary Bell’s palsy. It’s insane. The only thing that really protects us is hyper vigilance and a resignation to the idea that each of us will contract it at some point. The fact that there is no vaccine and no proportional response from the CDC or FDA is criminal.
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A-yup.
Following the links in the article, there was a vaccine with 78% effectiveness rate which was administered to 1.5 million people, sixty-six of whom suffered serious side effects.
A little math shows that one out of every ~17,727 people who were protected from Lyme suffered a serious side effect.
For the American tort bar, this was clearly nowhere good enough.
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