Nipah virus infection is a zoonotic disease, which means it spreads between animals and people. Fruit bats are the natural host of the virus. The first known Nipah outbreaks occurred in 1998 in Malaysia and Singapore, resulting in 265 cases and 105 deaths, and causing significant economic losses to the pig industry there.
Since 1999, outbreaks have occurred every year in Asia, mainly in Bangladesh and India. The virus can cause mild to severe illness, progressing rapidly from symptoms of a respiratory infection to encephalitis (swelling of the brain) leading to coma or death. An estimated 40 to 75 percent of people infected with Nipah virus die. Although most cases are transmitted through animals, human-to-human transmission can occur. Currently, there is no licensed vaccine or treatment for Nipah virus infection.
Nipah . vaccine trial
NIAID Director, Anthony S. Fauci, MD “The need for a vaccine against the Nipah virus is critical.”
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The experimental mRNA-1215 Nipah virus vaccine will be tested in an increased dose clinical trial to evaluate its safety, tolerability, and ability to induce an immune response in 40 healthy adults from 18 to 60 years old. Specifically, four groups of 10 participants each received two doses of the investigational vaccine through injections into the shoulder muscle 4 or 12 weeks apart.
Group 1 (10 participants) received two injections of 25 micrograms (mcg); group 2 will receive two injections of 50 mcg; and group 3 will receive two injections of 100 mcg, four weeks apart. The vaccine dose for the fourth group of participants will be determined based on an interim analysis of results from the previous three groups.
The fourth group will receive two injections 12 weeks apart. Study participants will be assessed through clinical observation and blood drawn at specific times throughout the study and will be followed up by clinical research staff for 52 weeks after their last immunization. their same.
Source: Eurekalert
