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VUMC conducting second avian flu vaccine trial
Nashville Business Journal - 11:41 AM CST Tuesday
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is enrolling volunteers for a trial of a second avian flue vaccine.
VUMC's infectious diseases researchers want to enroll 100 healthy people between the ages of 18 and 64. Participants will be required to make seven visits to VUMC's Clinical Research Center over a period of six months. Visits include an initial screening, vaccination visit, and five follow-up visits.
People who are allergic to eggs, who have autoimmune diseases, or a history of a malignancy other than skin cancer will be excluded from the study.
In the fall of last year, VUMC researchers conducted a trial of an avian flu vaccine manufactured by Sanofi Pasteur on participants over the age of 65.
"This vaccine is different than the product we tested in our previous avian flu vaccine trial," said Kathryn Edwards, professor of pediatrics and vice chair of pediatric research at VUMC, through a release. "This is one of the first vaccine studies to be done looking at different adjuvants in combination with the H5N1 virus."
An adjuvant is a chemical or compound added to a drug to increase its effect. The idea behind using an adjuvant is that less vaccine would be needed to produce a sufficient immune response, meaning the less vaccine would be needed to treat more people.
"If we can use one-fifth of the vaccine along with an adjuvant, then the vaccine will go five times farther," said Edwards.
After a relatively slow start during 2003 in Southeast Asia the avian influenza A/(H5N1) virus has made a gradual progression into humans in that region, and more recently into humans in Eastern Europe. The World Health Organization has confirmed 174 cases and 94 deaths from the virus as of March 1.