Cocaine Vaccine?

Newly engineered vaccine may help treat cocaine addiction.
The CNN (1/5, Curley) "The Chart" blog reported, "In 2008, 5.3 million Americans age 12 and older had abused cocaine in any form and 1.1 million had abused crack at least once in the year prior to being surveyed, according to data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse." Now, research coming from the Weill Cornell Medical College may help those battling with the disease of addiction. In fact, the "new vaccine shows promise for producing immunity to cocaine's highly addictive effects," according to the paper in Molecular Therapy.
The scientists "fashioned the vaccine around an infectious agent: namely, specific parts of the adenovirus (a common cold virus) that pose no risk in terms of causing sickness," HealthDay (1/5, Mozes) reported. Next, the "team attached the cold virus agent to a chemical that is structurally similar to cocaine. The result: When injected into mice, the vaccine prompted their immune system to generate a strong antibody response to cocaine, something the immune system normally doesn't do effectively" and "in test tubes these antibodies stopped cocaine in its tracks."
But, "even if the vaccine proves itself in" those studies, "experts on addiction warn that it's not a panacea," the Time (1/5, Kluger) "Healthland" blog pointed out.