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TOKYO — As a new strain of stomach flu leaves a trail of stomach-clenching illness from Sydney to San Diego, scientists are moving closer to thwarting it for good.
Early-stage human studies on a vaccine against norovirus, the top source of gastroenteritis in the United States, are set to finish this year. A course of shots may confer lifelong protection against 95 percent of strains, said Rajeev Venkayya, who heads Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.'s vaccines unit.
A norovirus vaccine would be a boon to cruise ships, schools and nursing homes struggling to deal with a highly contagious, untreatable scourge. Of the 21 million people infected in the United States annually, about 800 die, mostly the very young and the elderly, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Read more: http://triblive.com/usworld/world/4282816-74/norovirus-vaccine-stomach#ixzz2XnX3JFVg ;
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...but there's a green option coming: check out ViroBlogy for Charles Arntzen's news on a plant-produced intranasal norovirus vaccine.