Melbourne and Fijian researchers will commence a new vaccine trial in Fiji to investigate the effect of using fewer doses of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine combined with the polysaccharide vaccine in babies. Researchers hope to discover a new safe and effective method to immunise children against pneumococcal disease that may be more affordable in poorer countries. The vaccine trial with Fijian babies will start in September.
The bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae causes ear infections, pneumonia and meningitis in children and is believed to be responsible for over one million deaths per year in children under the age of five years, mostly in developing countries.
Vic Health Senior Research Fellow, Professor Kim Mulholland from the Centre for International Child Health said, “The only vaccine currently licensed for use in young children is the new conjugate vaccine that costs around $100 a dose. It is currently recommended that children under 2 years of age be given four doses of this vaccine.”
“Only the richest countries in the world can afford to vaccinate children against pneumococcal disease at present. Yet, it is in the poorer countries that this disease affects the most children and has a more severe impact. Pneumonia is the most common cause of infant morbidity and mortality in
Fiji, but meningitis is also very common,” Kim said.
This research project will examine the effect of 1, 2 or 3 doses of the conjugate pneumococcal conjugate vaccine combined with the polysaccharide vaccine that is licensed for use in adults and older children. The babies will have a series of blood tests at different stages to measure how well they have developed protection following vaccination.”
“We hope that the study will show that babies do not require four doses of the conjugate pneumococcal vaccine to have full protection. If it is safe to reduce the doses of conjugate pneumococcal vaccines given to each baby that will lower the cost of the vaccination for people in developing countries,” Kim said.
“We think that using a combination of the conjugate vaccine and the polysaccharide vaccine may even provide more effective protection against pneumococcal disease in developing countries,” Kim said.
“We hope that this unique study will lead to the early introduction of pneumococcal vaccination for babies in Fiji and the Pacific region. We would also like to see the results of this research being used to encourage and lead the use of the vaccines in the poorest countries in the world, particularly in Asia and Africa,” Kim said.
This is a joint project between the Centre for International Child Health based at The Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, the Fiji Ministry of Health and the Fiji School of Medicine with the support of Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council and the National Institutes of Health (USA).
For further information please contact:
Annessa Conquest 9345 5138 or 0438 325 731