Vaccines for preventing plague

Vaccines for preventing plague

Tom Jefferson1,*, Vittorio Demicheli2, Mark Pratt3

The Cochrane Collaboration, Roma, Italy
Azienda Sanitaria Locale ASL AL, Servizio Regionale di Riferimento per l'Epidemiologia, SSEpi-SeREMI - Cochrane Vaccines Field, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy
Ash Vale, UK

Vaccines for preventing plague. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 1998, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD000976.

To read the full review please follow this link: DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000976.

Plague is a rare disease now, but can be life threatening. It is transmitted by fleas and related to rat infestation. There are different forms of the disease, but they can all lead to blood poisoning and to death, although antibiotics are effective against the bacterium that causes it. Vaccines are available for use in laboratory staff working on the disease; however when the authors searched the literature they found no studies of sufficient quality to be included in this review. We therefore cannot make confident decisions about the effectiveness or tolerability of any plague vaccines.