Southampton researchers are recruiting volunteers to take part in a new vaccine study for Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFv).
The study is led by University Hospital Southampton and delivered through the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility.
Researchers are seeking healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 45.
Volunteers will be compensated up to £905 for their time and travel for 13 visits & two phone calls over around 12 months.
Tick-borne virus
Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFv) is found in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Asia. The infection is spread by tick bites or direct blood or body fluid contact with infected humans and animals. The symptoms include fever, muscle aches, nausea, and vomiting. In severe cases, the infection could cause bruising, bleeding, and organ failure.
Around 30% of cases are fatal, but there is currently no licenced vaccine for the fever.
New vaccine
Scientists at the UK Health Security Agency (UK HSA) have developed a new vaccine based on the safe and effective modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector.
This is a live vaccine that uses a chemically weakened virus to transport portions of the pathogen and stimulate an immune response.
Previous data shows that this type of vaccine is effective at inducing an immune response. The new CCHF vaccine, called MVA-CCHF, will be evaluated at different doses to assess its safety and immune response in healthy volunteers. This is the first study to use the MVA-CCHF vaccine in human participants. It is planned that a total of 18 volunteers will participate in the study.
The study is funded by Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation. If you are interested in taking part in this research study, please contact the study team at UHS.recruitmentCRF@nhs.net or call 023 8120 4989.