SLU Researchers Plan to Immunize Children

By Tina Hesman, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Jan. 18–Vaccine researchers at St. Louis University want to immunize children against bird flu.

The university’s Center for Vaccine Development is one of four medical centers participating in a clinical trial of avian influenza vaccine. Researchers plan to test the new vaccine in 120 children nationwide, including about 30 children locally. The children in the study must be from 2 to 9 years old with no medical problems.

Public health officials have warned that an avian flu, such as the H5N1 virus now active in Asia and Europe, could lead to the next pandemic. Researchers have evidence to back up the prediction. The 1918 Spanish flu was an avian influenza virus that mutated to infect humans. That pandemic killed almost 40 million people. Other flu pandemics have arisen from a combination of bird and human viruses.

The vaccine to be used in the new study has been tested in adults already, said Dr. Robert Belshe, director of the vaccine center. Adults require two high-dose shots of the H5N1 vaccine in order to produce antibodies that should protect against infection with the bird flu virus, he said. Some immunized people might still get infected with the virus, but would probably have a less severe form of the disease.

Children, especially those of school age, are some of the main spreaders of influenza. Belshe and other health experts have long advocated for children to be immunized against influenza, both to protect the children and to prevent spread of the disease to people who come in contact with sick children.

Many of the people who have gotten sick from bird flu, especially in Turkey, have been children, Belshe said. That could be because children are more susceptible to infection or because they are often the main caretakers for backyard poultry flocks and have more contact with sick birds than other family members do.

The new bird flu vaccine is made the same way standard flu vaccines are, Belshe said. The vaccine will not cause bird flu.

The vaccine will be given in a series of shots, probably two shots but maybe as many as three. The researchers don’t yet know what dose and how many shots will be necessary to produce immunity in children, Belshe said. The researchers will compare antibodies that protect against infection in the blood of vaccinated children with antibodies made by children injected with a salt water placebo instead of vaccine.

For more information about the study, call the vaccine center at 314-977-6333.

SLU VACCINE TRIAL:

–What: a clinical trial to test the safety and effectiveness of an avian influenza vaccine in children

–Where: St. Louis University’s Center for Vaccine Development

–Who is eligible: Healthy children ages 2 to 9. Children who have received standard flu shots may still participate in the study.

–Information or enrollment: Call the vaccine center at 314-977-6333 or send an e-mail to vaccine@slu.edu.

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