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In children under the age of 2, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)is a major cause of respiratory illness. However, Sylvia van denHurk and her team at the University of Saskatchewan are closing inon a needle-free vaccine for the virus and clinical trials areexpected to begin in about two years. Van den Hurk, explained: "It's one of the most important respiratory infections in youngbabies. And there's no vaccine." For the majority of children and adults, the virus may only producesymptoms of a common cold, such as runny nose, sore throat , mild headache , dry cough, and light fever. However, in young infants, RSV can cause pneumonia or bronchiolitis, with difficulty breathing, severe cough and highfever. The outlook is usually good when children have access togood care, including respirators to deliver supplementary oxygen,although when they don't have access to good care the outlook is aproblem. Van den Hurk, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Uof S College of Medicine and a research fellow at VIDO-InterVac(Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International VaccineCenter), said: "In developing countries and in the northern part of Canada, a lotmore babies actually die." According to the team, the vaccine candidate works in both mice andcotton rats. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)recently granted van den Hurk and her team, including postdoctoralfellows and graduate students, a $740,000 in order to take the nextsteps in their research. Using a platform technology developed at VIDO-InterVac with fundingfrom the Krembil Foundation and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,the researchers deliver the vaccine via the nose. Van den Hurk, explained: "The challenge is to vaccinate while (maternal) antibodies arecirculating, because these antibodies can inactivate the virus andprevent infection, but also inactivate the vaccine. You have toformulate your vaccine to avoid that." During pregnancy and breastfeeding, a mother's antibodies aretransferred to the baby's blood. These antibodies fight off thevaccine before the baby's own immune system can react. Theneedle-free vaccine concentrates the immune response in the mucousmembranes of the nose and lungs - where the virus attacks - beforematernal antibodies eliminate the vaccine. The vaccine candidate developed by the team includes a protein fromthe surface of RSV. This protein allows the virus to penetrate intothe cell and take over its machinery, and establish an infection. As the protein is located on the surface of the virus, it is anoptimal candidate to stimulate the immune system to generateantibodies against it. According to the researchers, delivering a vaccine to the mucousmembrane can be challenging because enzymes can break the vaccinedown and the respiratory system is designed to eliminate foreignsubstances. In order to overcome this, the researchers combined the proteinwith two substances that help trigger the immune system. Theprotein and the two adjuvants where then packed into a particledesigned to linger long enough to trigger an immune response. The technology has been licensed to the Pan-Provincial VaccineEnterprise Inc. (PREVENT), a National Centre of Excellence inCommercialization and Research, which conducts early stage humantrials for promising vaccine candidates is supporting the vaccinethrough Phase I human trials. Before vaccines can be commercializedthis work is vital. (UK Spelling: centre. US spelling: center) In the meantime, the CIHR grant has led to the discovery that thevaccine works significantly better in a vaccine formulation that isput together rather than any single ingredient separately. Van den Hurk, explained: "We find that when we put all these molecules together we get asynergistic effect, and we don't yet understand why. With the newCIHR grant we will define the mechanisms responsible for thiseffect." The researchers will examine how the vaccine and its componentsfunction in the respiratory tract. In addition, they willinvestigate how different types of immune cells are activated andtravel toward the vaccination site. Gaining insight on how the vaccine components function togetherwill offer further evidence to support trials of the RSV vaccine inhumans and give researchers the opportunity to utilize thistechnology for future vaccines in the fight against other importantdiseases. U of S VIDO-InterVac is a center of excellence for vaccinedevelopment and research, with eight commercialized vaccines, sixof which were world firsts. Written by Grace Rattue Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Additional References Citations. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Solid Surface Products , Translucent Resin Panel for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Acrylic Solid Surface.
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