SARS-like virus vaccine unlikely, experts say

A virus similar to SARS has spread through hospitals in Europe and the Middle East, prompting fears of human-to-human transmission. But health officials said vaccines were unlikely to play a role in controlling the outbreak, which has sickened 34 people and killed 18. Instead, they’ve focused on detecting the novel coronavirus, dubbed nCoV, and have quickly isolated patients. “Because of the challenges with developing medicines for coronaviruses, those are the most effective measures we have at this point,” Gregory Hartl at the World Health Organization told ABCNews.com. The tactic worked in the fight against SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, a coronavirus that killed 775 people during a 19-month outbreak a decade ago. The virus, which spread through coughs and sneezes, vanished in May 2004. “Once we figured out that infection control worked to stop the transmission, people started to get serious about it,” said Thomas Ksiazek, who served as chief of the U.S. Centers...