2,784 vaccinations later

April 29, 2011 By Jonathan Wood in Medications
2,784 vaccinations later

Enlarge

Mothers and babies taking part in the trial in South Africa.

The two thousand, seven hundred and eighty-fourth baby has been vaccinated today in South Africa as part of a clinical trial of a new vaccine against tuberculosis. The new TB vaccine is the most advanced in development anywhere in the world.

That’s the last baby in the trial, and marks completion of trial enrolment almost two years to the day after the study was first announced.

"We are extremely proud of this achievement and are eager to see the study results, which are expected to be available in 2012," says Dr. Helen McShane, who developed the at the Jenner Institute, Oxford University. "This milestone brings us a step closer to potentially having a new , from which millions of people around the world would benefit."

It’s certainly quite a milestone, and marks a great deal of work to vaccinate all these babies under 1 year old in an area where there is one of the highest rates of TB in the world.

But why precisely 2,784 babies, not 2,500 or 3,000?

Helen explains that it is entirely down to the calculations used to plan the trial. These sums showed that 2784 babies should give enough statistical weight to be able to see a significant improvement in preventing TB over the 90-year-old (but still standard) BCG jab.

The new vaccine is designed to be given to infants after they have received the BCG vaccine, boosting the immune response further. All the babies in the trial have received the BCG vaccine, with half then getting the trial vaccine and half a placebo. "If successful, the next steps would be to plan a phase III trial and licensure of the vaccine," Helen says.

The current trial was a phase IIb trial, and is the first to be able to really determine whether the vaccine gives infants any protection against TB. A larger phase III trial would pin down exactly the size of any benefit and guide how the vaccine could be rolled out.

The trial in Worcester, about 100km from Cape Town, is being conducted by the University of Cape Town’s South African Vaccine Initiative (SATVI), in partnership with Aeras, the Wellcome Trust, and the Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium Ltd (a joint venture between the University of Oxford and Emergent Biosolutions Inc formed to develop the vaccine)

"We are pleased to report that the trial has run smoothly to date," says Dr. Hassan Mahomed, who has led the trial at SATVI.

Provided by Oxford University search and more info website

not rated yet  

Rank not rated yet
Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Math and dyslexia?
    created16 hours ago
  • portable metabolism meter?
    createdMay 21, 2012
  • Rare medical conditions on 20/20 tonight
    createdMay 18, 2012
  • "Good" Cholesterol in Doubt
    createdMay 17, 2012
  • A couple of questions about schizophrenia
    createdMay 17, 2012
  • Paralyzed woman uses thoughts to move robotic arm
    createdMay 17, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Antidepressant use associated with increased mortality among critically ill patients?

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, have found that critically ill patients were more likely to die if they were taking the most commonly ...

Medications created 5 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Antibiotics boost risk of infection with antifungal-resistant candida

Previous exposure to certain antibiotics could boost the risk of infection with drug-resistant strains of a severe fungal infection. Researchers report their findings in the May 2012 issue of the journal Antimicrobial Ag ...

Medications created 6 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New blood thinner may lower chances of clots in high-risk heart patients: FDA

(HealthDay) -- The new blood thinner Xarelto appears to lower the chances of potentially fatal blood clots in high-risk heart patients, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration review has found.

Medications created 18 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Generic versions of plavix approved

(HealthDay) -- The first generic versions of Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate) have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Medications created May 18, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

'Last resort' antibiotics increasingly used to fight multidrug-resistant bugs

Multidrug-resistant pathogens are becoming more frequent, and the few "last resort" treatments available for infections with these bacteria have also shown an increase in use in recent years, according to a study published ...

Medications created May 16, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0


Body building, diet supplements linked to liver damage: study

(HealthDay) -- Body-building and weight-loss products are the types of dietary supplements most likely to cause liver injury, according to a small new study.

Limits to growth: Scientists identify key metastasis-enabling enzyme

(Medical Xpress) -- On the complex road to eradicating cancer, controlling or preventing metastatic growth initiated by primary tumors is high on the to-do list. A key area of such research is the development ...

Do bald men face higher risk of prostate cancer?

(HealthDay) -- Got hair? If you don't, you might have a higher risk of prostate cancer, a preliminary study suggests.

Neuron-nourishing cells appear to retaliate in Alzheimer's

When brain cells start oozing too much of the amyloid protein that is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, the astrocytes that normally nourish and protect them deliver a suicide package instead, researchers ...

Learning and memory: The role of neo-neurons revealed

(Medical Xpress) -- Researchers at the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS have recently identified in mice the role played by neo-neurons formed in the adult brain. By using selective stimulation the researchers ...

GPS for the brain: Researchers develop new brain map

University of Georgia researchers have developed a map of the human brain that shows great promise as a new guide to the inner workings of the body's most complex and critical organ.