EMBARGO DATE: May 3, 1999
Contact: Matt Scanlan, 615-322-4747
Intranasal flu vaccine protects kids
The results of a study conducted by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and nine other U.S. medical centers are to be presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.
The study showed that in addition to protecting those children who had antibodies present in the nose or blood, the children who received the vaccine were protected against a live H1N1 vaccine virus challenge compared to those who received placebo.
These results are a major breakthrough in the battle to immunize children against influenza without the fear and pain of a shot, said Dr. William C. Gruber, associate professor of Pediatrics and Pathology.
The fact that children who had no detectable antibodies in their noses or bloodstream were still protected opens a whole new avenue of research to Gruber and his colleagues.
"This development raises the possibility that there is something else responsible for protection against respiratory viruses besides antibodies," said Gruber.
This study of the nose-spray vaccine's effectiveness in children was made possible by an earlier study by Dr. Kathryn M. Edwards, professor of Pediatrics, Gruber said.
"Dr. Edwards did the largest study in the United States to prove the effectiveness of the nose-spray vaccine in adults. That study is really what paved the way for this one in children," said Gruber.
Influenza epidemics occur yearly and are an important cause of winter-time respiratory illness throughout the world. Infection rates are highest in young children, often exceeding 40 percent. A current vaccine is given by intramuscular injection and is not routinely administered to healthy children.
The direct and indirect costs of influenza is tremendous. By the age of five, most children have had influenza three times. In the United States alone, $4.6 billion is spent annually for the treatment of influenza.
"To control influenza epidemics we may need to routinely immunize children. This new delivery method will, hopefully, make the entire process of receiving vaccinations easier and more effective," said Gruber.
The study's results show that nose drops are an effective way of vaccinating children against influenza. The study enrolled 1,602 children from the ages of 15 months to six years. They were randomized to receive one dose of the spray, placebo or two dosed approximately 60 days apart.
Previous published results of this vaccine demonstrated protection against influenza A (H3N3) and B.
Vaccines work by stimulating the body's immune system to make antibodies against the infectious agent.
This latest vaccine was designed as a nose spray not only so that it would be easier to give children, but also because there is some evidence that it is more effective to have antibodies from the vaccine placed in the nose, where the infectious virus enters the body in the first place.
This particular vaccine is a live attenuated, cold-adapted trivalent vaccine, which means that it uses a weakened form of the live virus that cannot survive the warmer temperatures in the throat.
Like the vaccine currently being used in adults, the nasal spray version contains two strains of influenza A and one strain of influenza B.
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During the meeting, please call the Moscone Convention Center press room at 415-905-1001 to speak with researchers or [email protected].
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