Vaccine Will Be Tested Globally in Teens and Pre-Teens
ST. LOUIS - Children routinely get vaccinations for diseases they may not be exposed to until later in life.
Researchers at Saint Louis University hope that in the future another vaccine, to prevent herpes, could be added to the list of vaccines appropriate for teens and preteens. They are currently recruiting volunteers for a study examining how the body responds to this vaccine in a younger population. This worldwide trial follows two smaller studies in this population.
"The experimental herpes vaccine in this new study already has been given to thousands of adults. We are now starting to study this vaccine in a younger population, ages 10 to 17, with the eventual hope that young women could receive this vaccine before they become sexually active," said Thomas Heineman, M.D., Ph.D., principal investigator for the study.
If a vaccine is successfully developed to prevent herpes - and Saint Louis University is the national leader of the pivotal NIH study testing a herpes vaccine in adult women - the hope is that one day young women could be vaccinated well before they faced potential exposure to this incurable disease.
Why is such a study important? There is no cure for genital herpes, Heineman explained, and about 25 percent of all Americans are infected by age 30. Most don't know they are infected and have no symptoms.
"The percentage of men and women with this virus is increasing, and there's currently no practical way to stop the spread of the virus unless a vaccine is developed,"
Heineman said. "If we are able in the future to give this vaccine to teenagers and preteenagers, we could stop the spread of this disease."
Robert Belshe, M.D., director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, said if successful this would be the first-ever vaccine to prevent a sexually transmitted disease.
"A successful vaccine to fight this disease would represent a major public health triumph," Belshe said.
Herpes causes both minor illnesses, such as cold sores, and serious illnesses, including life-threatening infections in newborn babies. Most people who have been infected don't even know it.
The study is being conducted in 20 different countries in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Approximately 6,000 young women (teens and preteens) will take part in the study. Saint Louis University is looking for 40 volunteers.
Parents who are interested in enrolling a dependent child in this study can send an email to vaccine@slu.edu, phone the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development at 314-977-6333 or visit the SLU vaccine center's website at http://medschool.slu.edu/vaccine.
For more information, call the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development at 314-977-6333.
###
(Editor's note: To interview Dr. Thomas Heinmenan about this research, please call Joe Muehlenkamp at 314-977-8015.)
