Kaiser Permanente Research: New Nasal Flu Vaccine to be Studied In 15,000 Children
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OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Study Center is beginning a pivotal clinical research study of 15,000 children aged 1 to 17 years old to evaluate a flu vaccine that's administered by nasal spray.
The Vaccine Study Center is located in Oakland, California. Its co-directors are Steven Black, M.D., and Henry Shinefield, M.D., both pediatricians. The Center's research has been fundamental to the Federal government's decisions to approve vaccines, including the pneumococcal vaccine approved just this year as well as the chicken pox and Hib vaccines. As well, the Center's work helped show that the rotavirus vaccine recently withdrawn from the market was not safe for children.
The flu vaccine currently on the market is a killed flu vaccine which is given by injection. The shortages and delays in getting that vaccine to market result from the need to grow and kill the different strains that occur each year.
"A live flu vaccine that's administered in a painless way may be more useful to more children than the shots available now," says Dr. Black. "And the shorter timeframe from identification of a flu strain to having a vaccine available may make a dramatic difference in the number of children who can be protected."
Using a live attenuated nasal flu vaccine could shorten the time between determining which strain of flu will affect people in a given year and making a vaccine available and make it easier to administer this vaccine when it is available.
Participation in the study is open only to Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California between 1-17 years of age. Enrollment into the study is expected to last until the end of this year. Parents interested in more information can call 866-604-1271 toll free.
The study is funded by Aviron Corporation.
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care organization. Founded in 1945, it is a non-profit, group-practice prepayment program with headquarters in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 8 million members in 11 states and the District of Columbia. Today, it encompasses Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals; and the Permanente Medical Groups, as well as an affiliation with Group Health Cooperative based in Seattle.
Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 90,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and about 11,000 physicians representing all specialties.
Kaiser Permanente has research centers in California, Oregon, Hawaii, Georgia, Colorado, Maryland, and Ohio. Results of research conducted by Kaiser Permanente physicians and investigators have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine, the Permanente Journal, the American Journal of Public Health, Pediatrics, and other clinical journals.
SOURCE Kaiser Permanente
Web Site: kp.org |
