Researchers working across City St George’s, University of London and St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are calling for volunteers to help with a new study into finding a vaccine for typhoid and paratyphoid A.
Every year, it is estimated that there may be as many as 10 million cases of typhoid and paratyphoid A fever combined, resulting in up to 135,000 deaths, mainly affecting school-aged children in Asia and Africa.
Salmonella Typhi and Paratyphi A are the bacteria that can cause a disease called enteric fever. Although they are from the same family as the Salmonella bacteria that cause gastroenteritis in the UK, they are quite different. Enteric fever is most common in low and middle-income communities in Asia and Africa with inadequate sanitation and limited access to safe water.
Currently, there are safe and effective vaccines against typhoid fever. However, there are no licensed vaccines against the Salmonella Paratyphi A bacteria, which is responsible for around one in four of enteric fever. There are vaccines in development, but designing a vaccine is difficult as it is not yet understood exactly what immune responses may protect individuals from disease.
Dr Catherine Cosgrove, study lead and Adult Lead for the Vaccine Institute at City St Georges, University of London and Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Acute Medicine at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“We have a promising new vaccine that has huge potential to protect people against paratyphoid fever and slash deaths as a result.
“We hope that the knowledge gained from this study will help in the development of vaccines and make paratyphoid fever a preventable disease – an important step forward in improving global health.”
The study is open to healthy volunteers aged 18 to 55 years old. It is taking place at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Tooting, London, in collaboration with the Oxford Vaccine Group.
To test if the vaccine works to protect against paratyphoid A fever, participants will be randomly selected to receive the new vaccine or a control vaccine. Everyone will then consume a drink that contains the bacteria which could cause paratyphoid fever.
Participants will be treated with antibiotics as soon as they show symptoms of infection, or 14 days after being exposed to the bacteria – even if they do not have symptoms. The trial spans across seven months, during which everyone will be required to attend the St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for all study visits and travel to Oxford on the day they are exposed to the bacteria.
Everyone who participates in the trial will be provided with reimbursement for time, inconvenience and travel. They will receive up to £4,500 if they remain in the study for the entire period and attend all the scheduled visits required of them.
