China announces highly effective hand-foot-mouth disease vaccine.

According to AFP, on May 28, researchers in China said that an experimental vaccine has shown "significant" protection against the hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) virus in children.

Preventing hand-foot-mouth disease in children. (Source: thenews.com.pk)

According to research published in The Lancet, in the final trial, the vaccine showed up to 90% effectiveness in preventing HFMD caused by the enterovirus EV71 for at least 12 months.

This vaccine was tested on more than 10,000 healthy children aged 6-35 months in four regions across China. The study indicated that the vaccine did not cause any significant side effects.

There is currently no vaccine against the EV71 virus, the causative agent of HFMD. Over the past decade, this disease has claimed the lives of more than 2,000 people out of a total of 6 million infected, mostly children.

According to (Vietnam+) - VT