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Senior Citizens Needed for Testing First Avian Flu
Vaccine
Oct. 28, 2005 – Senior citizens, age 65 and over,
are needed for a clinical trial of the first vaccine that targets the
deadly avian flu virus. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville,
Tenn., is now enrolling volunteers. Dr. Kathryn Edwards says 100 seniors
are needed for this second phase of the study for the National Institute
of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The vaccine researchers are testing was made by
Sanofi Pasteur from an inactivated H5N1 avian flu virus isolated last
year. Sanofi Pasteur has a $100 million contract with Health and Human
Services to provide the vaccine to ward off a pandemic.
The first phase of the avian flu vaccine trial,
conducted at various other medical centers around the country, tested
the vaccine in normal, healthy adults and determined it was safe to test
in other populations.
The development of a widespread epidemic of avian
influenza, or "bird flu," is of growing concern throughout the world.
Human cases, with a high fatality rate, have been
reported in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Public health experts fear
that avian flu could lead to a worldwide pandemic if the virus becomes
easily transmittable, leading to a public health crisis.
Currently, most people are highly vulnerable to
infection from avian influenza, as the current influenza vaccines do not
protect against this new strain of the virus, making the development of
new vaccines against avian flu a major priority.
"We believe in some cases in Asia that the avian
flu has been passed from human to human, and we're concerned that the
virus will evolve to spread easily among the human population and become
a global pandemic," said Edwards, professor of Pediatric Infectious
Diseases and vice chair of clinical research in the Department of
Pediatrics.
"Developing an effective vaccine is our best
defense. The elderly, in particular, could be at high risk for
complications and death from infection, so it is very important to test
the new vaccine in older adults."
Avian flu first emerged in Hong Kong in 1997 and
has spread among poultry populations in some Asian countries. Humans
have contracted the virus from sick animals, and evidence has pointed to
a small number of cases in which human-to-human transmission is believed
to have occurred. Identified as H5N1, the strain of the influenza virus
has shown a high mortality rate - approximately 72 percent - with many
fatalities among previously healthy young people.
"It's similar to the concept of the regular flu
vaccine that people get every year, but it's targeted to this novel type
of flu," Edwards said.
Because the study is beginning at the start of this
year's influenza season, all participants will be given this year's
licensed influenza vaccine if desired. Participants will then be given
three doses of either the bird flu or placebo vaccine over the next six
months and will be required to provide blood samples to test if
protection against the virus was produced.
People 65 years or older who are interested in
hearing more about the avian flu vaccine study, may call the Avian
Influenza Hotline at 615-322-8740.
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