Testing of an experimental hepatitis E vaccine developed by China-based Xiamen Innovax Biotech has proven enormously successful, Bloomberg reported, citing a study published in The Lancet, a medical journal. The 19-month trial, which involved over 112,000 people between the ages of 16 and 65, achieved a perfect rate of prevention from the disease. Hepatitis E, which causes jaundice fever and is dangerous for pregnant women, has infected about a third of the world’s population and kills an estimated 26,000 people each year. The disease is a water-borne virus primarily found in regions with poor sanitation. Further studies will be needed to assess the vaccine, but the US Center for Disease Control and Prevented has already heralded the drug as a breakthrough.
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