In an effort to better combat the danger posed by ticks, researchers are looking for thousands of volunteers in the U.S. and Europe to test the first possible Lyme disease vaccine in 20 years.
Lyme disease is becoming worse as cases rise and tick habitats develop as a result of increasing temperatures.
The only Lyme disease vaccine for humans was taken off the market in the United States in 2002 due to a lack of demand, leaving individuals to depend on bug spray and tick checks while a vaccination for canines has long been accessible.
In order to create a new vaccine that would protect both adults and children as young as 5 against the most prevalent Lyme strains on two continents, Pfizer and the French biotech Valneva are now working to avoid the mistakes made in the past.
According to Pfizer’s vaccine CEO Annaliesa Anderson, “there wasn’t such a realisation, I believe, of the seriousness of Lyme disease” and how many people it affected the last time around.
The first person in line when the study in central Pennsylvania started on Friday was hunter and hiker Robert Terwilliger.
He is weary of worrying about becoming sick from his next tick bite after seeing many friends succumb to Lyme disease.
“You know, I constantly worry about that. Particularly when you feel something crawling on you when hunting while seated in a tree stand, “Terwilliger, 60, a Pennsylvanian from Williamsburg, stated. You must use extreme caution.
It’s unclear how often Lyme illness manifests itself. According to insurance figures cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 476,000 Americans get Lyme disease treatment annually. According to Pfizer’s Anderson, 130,000 illnesses occur in Europe each year.
Deer ticks and black-legged ticks both transmit the bacterium that causes Lyme disease.
Fatigue, a temperature, and joint discomfort are the earliest symptoms of the illness. The initial symptom is often, but not always, a red, bull’s-eye rash.
Early antibiotic treatment is essential, but since some ticks are as little as a pin, it may be difficult for patients to determine whether they were bitten.
Untreated Lyme disease may harm the heart and brain system in addition to causing severe arthritis. Even after receiving therapy, some individuals still have symptoms.
The majority of vaccinations for other illnesses only function after a person has been exposed to a germ.
According to Dr. Gary Wormser, a Lyme specialist at Current York Medical College who is not involved with the new study, the Lyme vaccine provides a different approach by acting sooner to prevent a tick bite from spreading the virus.
How? It specifically targets OspA, a “outer surface protein” of the Lyme bacteria found in the intestines of the tick.
Before the bacterium is transferred to the parasite’s victim, experts believe the tick must feed on the person for around 36 hours. Due to the delay, the tick’s ingested blood has antibodies that may fight the germs at their source.
Pfizer and Valneva observed no safety issues and a favourable immunological response in early-stage, modest investigations.
The most recent trial will examine the safety and efficacy of the VLA15 vaccination. In Lyme-prone regions, like the Northeastern United States, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden, the corporations want to hire at least 6,000 individuals.
Between now until the start of the tick season in the spring of 2019, they will get three shots—three of the vaccination and one of a placebo. They will get a single booster dosage a year later.
In order for individuals to have high antibody levels during the months when ticks are most active, Anderson noted that “we’re actually looking at something that’s a seasonal vaccination.”
Volunteers, who may be as young as 5, should be at high risk since they often visit tick-infested regions, such as hikers, campers, and hunters, according to Dr. Alan Kivitz, the director of one of the research sites at Duncansville, Pennsylvania’s Altoona Center for Clinical Research.
Not a single day goes by in his office when “someone either has a fear about Lyme illness, might potentially have Lyme disease,” according to Kivitz.
The prior Lyme vaccine, which GlaxoSmithKline yanked off the market in 2002 due to controversy and poor sales, is not comparable to this current contender.
That old Lyme vaccine, which had a 75 percent efficacy rate, had tepid support from vaccine experts, wasn’t tested on youngsters, and generated unfounded complaints of adverse effects relating to joints.
Although the OspA protein is likewise the target of the new Pfizer-Valneva vaccine, it has been developed significantly differently from its predecessor and now targets six types of Lyme disease in the United States and Europe rather than just one.
The Pfizer trial will cover two tick seasons to gather data, but it’s not the only study looking at novel Lyme disease prevention strategies.
Researchers from the University of Massachusetts are developing injections of already-made Lyme-fighting antibodies as an alternative to vaccination.
Additionally, Yale University researchers are developing a vaccine that targets a tick’s saliva, which in animal tests caused a skin response that made it more difficult for ticks to attach themselves and eat.
Since other illnesses other than Lyme are transmitted by various tick species, “we’re all waiting for a tick-bite prevention vaccination,” Wormser said.