May 8 (Bloomberg) -- An experimental vaccine against a pneumonia-causing virus will begin human studies in Australia in about a year, moving the world closer to eliminating one of the most common diseases in children.

Scientists at the University of Queensland in Brisbane said they may produce the world's first vaccine that treats and prevents respiratory syncytial virus, after their shot helped fight the disease in mice. Vaccines being developed by Wyeth and MedImmune Inc. protect against the disease and don't treat it.

The virus, also known as RSV, kills about one of every 1,000 children infected. By age 2, most have caught RSV, according to Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. Each year in the U.S., 125,000 infants are hospitalized for severe RSV infections, contributing to $9 billion in treatment costs, according to the National Institutes of Health.

``This is no huge killer of children, but it's hugely consumptive of health-care costs,'' said Robert Tindle, who developed the vaccine at the university's Sir Albert Sakzewski Virus Research Centre in Brisbane, over the telephone today.

Starting mid next year, Tindle and colleagues will test the vaccine in the blood of about 40 people at Brisbane's Royal Children's Hospital to gauge its response. The trial, partly funded by the Australian Government's National Health and Medical Research Council, will be the first of three phases of patient studies usually needed for a treatment to be approved in the U.S.

If successful, a second stage of clinical trials will start in 2009, Trindle said. He said repeated tests on about 30 mice showed the vaccine provided protection against the virus.

HPV Vaccine

Like shots for human papillomavirus -- the technology for which was also developed at the University of Queensland -- the RSV vaccine contains non-infectious molecules called virus-like particles that trigger an immune response in the body.

Vaccines for RSV would reduce the need for antivirals, such as MedImmune's Synagis, to treat the disease. Synagis generated $1.07 billion in sales last year for Gaithersburg, Maryland- based MedImmune.

Current treatments for RSV are ``difficult to make, hideously expensive, and only recommended for very serious cases of RSV,'' Tindle said. Also, medicines are protective for three or four weeks, whereas a vaccine will afford lifelong protection, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Singapore at sbennett9@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 8, 2007 07:06 EDT