En marcha los primeros ensayos británicos para vacuna contra la influenza porcina

Los primeros ensayos de una vacuna contra la influenza porcina, conducidos por la University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, están siendo llevados a cabo en el Leicester Royal Infirmary.

El Dr. Iain Stephenson, profesor consultante en enfermedades infecciosas en el hospital y conferencista principal en la Universidad, ha estado llevando a cabo investigaciones sobre influenza porcina y ha publicado trabajos académicos en el tema.

En estos momentos está trabajando con 175 voluntarios entre 18 y 50 años como parte de la investigación para desarrollar una vacuna contra el virus.

Los voluntarios fueron reclutados durante la última semana del pasado julio, y al presente se están obteniendo muestras de sangre para detectar cuanta inmunidad confiere el medicamento. Investigaciones previas del Dr. Stephenson y colegas ya establecieron que dos dosis de la vacuna serían necesarias para levantar la inmunidad.

Los resultados de los ensayos se esperan para septiembre.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/160426.php

Dr Stephenson, of the Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation at the University of Leicester, said: “The aim is to find out how many doses and what type of vaccine is needed to give protection. This will help with planning the vaccine campaign across the country.

“It is almost certain two doses of vaccine will be needed. Unlike seasonal flu, where people’s bodies are partly primed to fight the virus, swine flu is a new infection none of us has met before. The vaccinations during the trails are being given between one-three weeks apart

“Because of this your body needs a priming dose and then a boosting dose. The lower the dose the more of the vaccine can be shared among the population. The trial will also help determine how far apart the injections need to be given.”

Earlier this year, in his paper published in PNAS- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA- Dr Stephenson made the first case for a pre-pandemic vaccine to mitigate the worst effects of pandemic flu.

He said: “This study is the first to show an effective pre-pandemic vaccine approach. This means that we could vaccinate people potentially many years before a pandemic, to generate memory cells that are long lasting and can be rapidly boosted by a single dose of vaccine when needed.”