Corby’s Lakeside Healthcare recruiting women for vaccine trial

Lakeside Healthcare’s research team is recruiting women for a vaccine trial for a little-known, but common virus that affects nearly 1,000 newborns in the UK per year.

They’re looking for women aged between 16 and 40.

Cytomegalovirus or CMV, was discovered in the 1950s by the same research team that discovered polio, mumps and rubella but, so far there is no vaccine.

Most people won’t even know if they have CMV but if a pregnant woman contracts the virus she can pass it on to her unborn child with catastrophic results.

CMV can cause miscarriage and stillbirths. Five out of every 1,000 babies born with CMV die at birth or in their first year of life.

It is the leading preventable cause of hearing loss in babies, responsible for around 25 per cent of childhood hearing loss as well as other disabilities including cerebral palsy, epilepsy, physical impairment, vision loss and ADHD, behavioural and learning difficulties.

The Moderna CMVictory phase 3 vaccine trial will test a new vaccine for its safety and effectiveness in preventing CMV in healthy adult females.

They will be assigned into one of two groups; one group is given the vaccine, while the other receives a placebo dose.

The vaccine uses a new technology called messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA).

Traditionally, vaccines against viruses were administered by injecting certain antigens into the body to create an immune system response as if someone was naturally exposed to the virus.

Now mRNA vaccines can tell the body to produce the antigen to create the same immune system response.

The investigational vaccine will be given as an injection into the upper arm, with an initial dose and follow up injections at two and six months and further monitoring for another 24 months.

Director of research at Lakeside Healthcare, Dr Amardeep Heer said: “The idea is prevention rather than cure. It’s preventing CMV in newborns.

“If any of the ladies taking part do become pregnant subsequently after they’ve had their vaccinations then we will follow them up throughout until delivery of the baby, that’s an option for them to take part in. If they don’t want to take part, they don’t have to.

“It’s a common infection that’s in the community so everyone gets it, men and women but it’s generally a non-specific viral illness. Unfortunately it can cause a significant disability if women pick it up during pregnancy if they haven’t been infected previously.

“What we know is, there’s at least 25 to 30 per cent of the population who haven’t had CMV by the time that they’re in the 16 to 40 age group, when they’ll be thinking about having children.

“At the moment it’s not routinely tested for when women go in for pregnancy counselling. It’s not actually part of their antenatal workup.”

If you would like to know more about CMV visit the CMV Action charity website and if you would like to register interest in taking part in the vaccine trial visit the Lakeside Healthcare website.