Clinical trial of an avian influenza vaccine
Published on 20 April 2009, 03:28 Last Update: 11 hour(s) ago by Insciences
A new vaccine against the bird flu will be tested at the Haukeland University Hospital.
The Influenza Centre at the Gade Institute has, in cooperation with European researchers, developed a new vaccine against the bird flu virus, H5N1.
Since 2003, 417 people, mainly in South East Asia, have been infected with H5N1. 257 of these died. Should the virus mutate, and become more transmissible between people, a so-called pandemic (a worldwide outbreak affecting a large number of people) might occur. The virus could, in such an event, spread quickly all over the world and cause an unusual amount of serious illness and high mortality. Recent pandemics include the 1918 Spanish Flu, the 1957 Asian flu, and the 1968 Hong Kong Flu. All of these pandemics have their origin in bird flu strains. Many experts and health agencies are currently concerned that the H5N1-virus which has arisen in recent years may evolve into such a pandemic virus.
This study aims to test a novel vaccine previously not tested on humans. Bird flu vaccines tested in human clinical trials to date have been well tolerated by humans. The study is financed by the EU-project PANFLUVAC, Helse Vest and the University of Bergen, and is approved by SLV and REK. Collaborative partners from several European nations (Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway) are involved in the project, and the vaccine is produced by the vaccine producer Crucell Berna Biotech Ltd under contract from the EU PANFLUVAC project.
The Influenza Centre aims to recruit 60 healthy individuals aged 19-50 in order to study the immune response elicited by this bird flu vaccine, as well as register any side effects. The vaccine will be tested in three different degrees of strength together with a new strength enhancer (adjuvant) and as vaccine without strength enhancer. It is expected that the participants in this clinical trial will be better protected than those who are not administered such a test vaccine. The study will yield important information for development and efficacy of a new bird flu vaccine, as well as provide information as to how long the vaccine confers protection. This information will be very valuable in the event of a new pandemic.