The University of Maryland School of Medicine will begin testing its cell-based bird flu vaccine in January in preparation for a possible flu pandemic in the near future.
Researchers expect the cell-based vaccine that uses whole virus particles to provide immunity faster and more reliably than those incubated in chicken eggs then broken into fragments, according to a release from the university. This will be the first whole-virus vaccine for bird flu tested in the United States.
“Your body responds better by seeing things in their natural form,” said Dr. James Campbell, an assistant professor of pediatrics and principal investigator on the study. “Any additional immune response you can get for a pandemic flu would be good. You?ve got higher stakes.”
Seasonal flu vaccines are prepared using viral particles broken into fragments using a detergent, he said, because they have been shown to produce lower side effects.
Nationally, health researchers and agencies are gearing up for a potential flu pandemic, like the one that killed thousands in 1918.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded $11.4 million to companies working on tests that can identify avian flu within minutes in a doctor?s office. MesoScale, in Gaithersburg, received more than $700,000 of that money.
A prime suspect for a pandemic, bird flu has infected more than 250 people in 10 countries since 2003, resulting in more than 150 deaths, according to the CDC. So far, highly contagious and person-to-person transmission needed for a pandemic is missing. Although health officials say they can?t be certain the H5N1 bird flu virus will be the next pandemic, developing faster tests and faster means of mass-producing vaccines may be the best way to respond to a deadly outbreak.
“The information that we gain from these trials will be invaluable for the pandemic flu,” Campbell said.
Volunteers needed
The Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine is seeking 50 to 100 healthy volunteers age 18 to 40 years old to test a bird flu vaccine. The eight-month trial is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. Volunteers face a medical screening, several blood samples and two shots, and will be randomly assigned to groups receiving the cell culture-based H5N1 vaccine, or a placebo. Compensation will be provided. For more information or to register, call 410-706-6156.
