Wednesday July 23, 1997- The-Micigal Daity- 3
.Spray may
prevent flu
By Heather Wiggn
Daily Staff Reporter
After 30 years of extensive research, epidemiolo-
gy Prof. Hunein Maassab's dedication has paid off in
he form of a medical breakthrough.
In 1967, Maassab developed a pediatric nasal-
spray flu vaccine, which was deemed effective on
July 14 by the National Institutes of Health.
Research demonstrates that the vaccine has the abil-
ity to preent the development of influenza in chil-
dren.
Vaccinating children against influenza is impor-
tant because "children infect everyone in a house-
hold' Maassab said. "It's the initial spread."
Although children can receive the currently-
licensed flu shot, some younger children will need an
additional booster shot each month. The nasal spray
s attractive to the public because "it doesn't require
a shot and it's effective in children," said Regina
Rabinoch, a doctor affiliated with the NIH.
Most Americans are familiar with the head and
body aches, fever, nasal congestion and other symp-
toms that come with the common respiratory infec-
tion. Approximately $4.6 billion is spent each year
on the medical costs for influenza alone. Projections
show that a severe national flu epidemic could tally
at least $12 billion in medical bills.
"Influenza is a very important disease," Maassab
said. "There are economic factors (involved), like
people staying home from work and health factors
(to consider)"
The drug was used in a study conducted last sum-
mer, in which each of the 1,602 participating chil-
dren were either given the new vaccination or a
placebo and evaluated over the flu season. The
results were definite - only 1 percent of vaccinated
children contracted the flu, whereas 18 percent of
children given a placebo came down with influenza.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
iseases and Aviron, a small biopharmaceutical
company in California that specializes in the devel-
Magazine
to modify
rankings
By Jason Stoffer
Daily Staff Reporter
U.S. News & World Report will mod-
ify tabulation processes for its 1997 col-
lege rankings issue in order to minimize
minor discrepancies in the categories.
Unlike previous years, U.S. News will
no longer rank universities by statistical-
ly insignificas differences in average
Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, alumni
donasio-is and a multitude of other cate-
gori'as.
Bob Moris, U.S. News' director of
research for the "Ametica's Best
Colleges" issue said the 1997 rankings
will round colleges' total scores to the
nearest whole point.
Last year, Yale, Harvard and
Princeton Universities were separated
by scant decimals of a point, yet were
ranked first, second and third, respec-
tively. Under the new system, they
would have shared the coveted No. 1
ranking.
Morris said the new ranking method
clarifies the decision-making process
for prospective college students and
their parents.
"We didn't want to exaggerate the dif-
ferences in schools," Morris said.
"Doing ratings at 10th place creates
more differences than there are in the
real world"
Associate Vice President for
University Relations Lisa Baker said that
while there is a place for rankings, they
are "superficial (and have) absolutely no
impact on academic programs and how
the University does things."
See RANKINGS, Page 8
MARGARET MYERS/Dai
Prof. Hunein Maassab, whose research led to the development of a flu-preventing nasal spray, works in the
University's Jonas Salk Laboratory.
opment of vaccines for the general public, co-spon-
sored the study.
Due to the study's success, the vaccine should be
available to the public in about two years. Rabinoch
said there will be "no immediate impact on the pub-
lic ... because the vaccine hasn't been submitted to
the (Food and Drug Administration) yet."
However, Aviron plans to pursue licensing for
children and adults within the next year.
Rabinoch said the vaccine is "a tool that works."
"(It's) one more gun to fight influenza. Give Dr.
Maassab credit," Rabinoch said. "He's watched this
for 25 years - to have this vaccine is a wonderful
thing."
The future of the vaccine and its use in medicine
is promising.
"In the face of the next probable serious influenza
pandemic, a live-attenuated flu vaccine would pro-
vide an effective new tool to combat the disease's
spread," said NIAID influenza Program Officer
Dominick lacuzio in a written statement.
The vaccine's effects have not yet been studied on
adults, but research in this area is expected to be the
focus of future studies.
I
TUITION
Continued from Page 1
modest hike to the slimming of costs in
the central administration.
"It is a great pleasure to see this bud-
coming forward with the significant
Power said. "We want to keep
tuition as low as we can"
Michigan Student Assembly
President Michael Nagrant said the 1997
tuition increase represents Bollinger's
goals to make higher education afford-
able to students.
"I think it definitely shows the presi-
dent's interest with students' needs,"
Nagrant said. "It will put us in there to
get the tuition tax credit."
The Michigan tuition tax credit -
ch was previously unavailable to
University students because of
tuition increases above the rate of
inflation - will now be applicable to
University students who are in-state
residents. In-state students should be
able to receive $250 in state funding
by filling out the necessary informa-
tion in their annual tax forms,
Nagrant said.
egent Olivia Maynard (D-Flint) said
e low tuition increase will be appreci-
ated and respected by University offi-
cials, as well as by students and their
families.
1-800-KAP-TEST
Www.kaplan.com
*LSAT is a registered trademark of the Law School Admission Council.