Mackay Hospital and Health Service is recruiting participants to join a national clinical trial for an investigational vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV).
The Mackay Institute of Research and Innovation (MIRI) is one of 33 trial sites around Australia seeking participants for a study assessing the co-administration of the annual flu vaccine with the investigational RSV vaccine.
Principal Investigator and Mackay Base Hospital Infectious Disease Physician Dr Janath De Silva said people aged 65 years and older are invited to be part of the two-month trial.
All eligible participants will receive the RSV vaccine and the flu vaccine (with some participants receiving both vaccines at the same time and others receiving them about a month apart), and then a follow up visit a month later. There are no costs to participate.
Heathy volunteers are needed. Eligible participants must:
- Be 65 and over
- Be generally healthy or have stable chronic medical conditions
- Not have a history of severe side effects from or allergic reactions to vaccines
- Not had a flu vaccine in the past six months
Dr De Silva said the aim of the trial was to test a vaccine manufactured by Pfizer that may prevent RSV infection, to study the effects of giving it at the same time as the annual flu vaccine, or about one month later.
“Infections occur in people of all ages and can feel like the common cold for most young adults, but for infants, the immunocompromised, and older adults, it can be potentially life-threatening,” Dr De Silva said.
The risk of serious infection increases in older adults and for those with chronic heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system.
“Because RSV is a virus, antibiotics do not help. There are no safe and effective antiviral drugs or a vaccine currently available for use against this virus.
There is an important unmet medical need for an effective vaccine that can help protect older adults against this highly contagious disease.
RSV and influenza both occur in the Australian winter and there is a possibility that people could be immunised against the flu and RSV at the same time.
By taking part, you could help us learn more about the safety of the vaccine as well as your body’s immune response when it is given at the same time as an annual flu vaccine.”
To express your interest in joining the trial please email MIRI-RSU@health.qld.gov.au
