Saint Louis University’s Center for Vaccine Development is one of eight sites selected to test the effectiveness of a trial H1N1 vaccine to thwart progression of the pandemic flu. The rapidly developed trials will be conducted through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is part of the National Institutes for Health (NIH).
The Center at SLU is a Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units funded by NIH as quick responders for vaccine testing.
“We anticipate these vaccine studies will start in early August,” said Dr. Sharon Frey, professor of infectious diseases at Saint Louis University who will lead the team of researchers in St. Louis. The test vaccines will be injections.
The trials will look at whether one or two doses of H1N1 vaccine are needed to induce a protective immune response in healthy adult volunteers- ages 18 to 64 years old and elderly volunteers age 65 and older. The doses will be given 21 days apart. If results indicate the vaccines are safe, similar trials will begin in healthy children –age 6 months to 17 years old.
The NIAID said the trials are being conducted in a compressed timeframe in a race against the possible autumn resurgence of H1N1 infections that may occur at the same time as seasonal flu trains appear.
“The modelers predict the peak will be in October, which means we’ll see more H1N1 influenza in September,” said Dr. Robert Belshe, director of the Center for Vaccine Development at SLU School of Medicine and co-investigator for several of the national research studies. “We’ll be in the midst of it before we know it.”
Typically, vaccines are the most powerful weapon against influenza. If the trials are successful, Dr. Frey said most likely, two separate flu shots would be offered to residents for strains circulating this year.
“People will need two vaccines. They will need the typical, usual, routine seasonal flu, which protects against the three most common circulating strains at the time, plus the novel H1N1 vaccine,” Frey said, adding she hopes the two can be administered at the same time.
Other cities with H1N1 clinical trials are Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Houston, Iowa City, Iowa, Nashville, Tenn. and Seattle. Frey said all sites will participate in the same vaccine protocols.
If you are interested in participating in the St. Louis H1N1 vaccine trial, call 314-977-6333 or email vaccine@slu.edu.