Sars vaccine 'hard to find'

2003-04-20 18:00

Rome - Developing an effective vaccine for the killer disease Sars will be extremely difficult because the virus keeps mutating into new forms, a Hong Kong expert told Sunday's La Repubblica daily.

Arthur Van Langerberg, a virologist at Canossa hospital in Hong Kong, one of the cities worst hit by the outbreak, said that even if researchers found a vaccine in the next six months it was unlikely to be effective since the virus would probably have mutated in the meantime.

"We must be aware that we're going to have trouble getting rid of Sars," the Italian paper quoted him as saying.

Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), which scientists have confirmed to be a mutant form of the corona virus, the cause of the common cold, has claimed more than 200 lives so far and infected a further 4 500 people worldwide.

"Because corona viruses are so adaptable, it will be difficult to develop an effective vaccine for this disease," La Repubblica quoted him as saying.

Van Langerberg said that there was a very real risk of Sars spreading across Europe next winter - the season when people most frequently suffer from common colds - and called on Europe to be vigilant.

He also said that as a physician he was afraid of Sars because it was highly contagious.

- AFX