Centocor Inc.'s Centoxin apparently saved an 8-month-old boywith meningitis in septic shock, Irish physicians report thisweek in The Lancet.

"Once HA-1A (Centoxin) was started, there was an impressiveand sustained improvement, the child's recovery beingremarkable for the short hospital stay and normal neurologicaloutcome," according to the doctors at Royal Belfast Hospital forSick Children.

"Centocor, the manufacturers, tell us that 14 of 16 childrenhave survived meningococcal sepsis after receiving HA-1A,despite a predicted risk of death of 50 percent," the doctorsadded. -- RF

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