Volunteers needed for typhoid fever vaccine trial

A clinical study to test a new vaccine to prevent typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever is seeking volunteers.

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston (UHBW) NHS Foundation Trust's Vaccine and Testing Research Team is collaborating with the University of Oxford's Vaccine Group to invite healthy people between the ages of 18 and 55 to take part in the trial.

Participants will either receive an experimental dose or the control vaccine before being exposed to the bacteria which causes the illnesses.

Dr Rajeka Lazarus, from UHBW, said: "We hope by investigating this new vaccine we can assist in progressing medical research and saving lives".

Typhoid fever is a highly contagious bacterial infection that can spread throughout the body and affect many organs.

It can cause serious complications and can even be fatal without prompt treatment.

It is estimated that there are 13m cases of typhoid and paratyphoid A fever every year, resulting in 133,000 deaths.

The condition mainly affects school-aged children in Asia and Africa.

The seven-month trial aims to generate a protective immune response.

Throughout the study, participants will be constantly monitored by doctors and will be reimbursed for their time and travel by the Serum Institute of India, which is funding the trial.

Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine group, and Chief Investigator of the study, said the trial is a "landmark moment".

"Not only would this be the first licensed vaccine specifically for paratyphoid A, but this could also be the first combined vaccine to be licensed to protect against both paratyphoid and typhoid.

He added that the vaccine could "significantly reduce the global burden" of the disease if it is successful.

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