A vaccine against bronchiolitis should soon be tested in Paris. Researchers are currently recruiting women to obtain initial data.
“Baby bronchiolitis will not make you sick one day…” The Center for Clinical Investigation in Vaccinology (CIC) Cochin-Pasteur (Paris) has the meaning of the formula. Facility calls for volunteers to test bronchiolitis vaccine, reveals European 1. While the seasonal epidemic is well underway, the proposal is timely. Because the objective is to reach the first audience victim of this disease, infants. Indeed, in the long term, it will be pregnant women who will benefit from this product.
Indirect protection
Pending the marketing of the vaccine, the clinical trial is offered to the population that comes closest to the target: women aged 18 to 45 who have effective contraception. Recruitment is open until the end of January 2017 (1). If the mechanism of the product is not disclosed, the CIC specifies all the same that its purpose is to fight the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). It is the cause of the majority of cases of bronchiolitis.
However, infants are the main victims of this infection. During the winter of 2014-2015, among children under 2 years old admitted to the emergency room for suggestive symptoms, 56% were under 6 months old. Before this age, vaccination is not possible. The solution then remains to inoculate her mother during pregnancy.
This approach is already proposed against the flu. “Vaccinating the woman during pregnancy allows her to produce antibodies which are then transmitted to the baby through the placenta at the end of pregnancy”, explains Odile Launay, head of CIC Cochin-Pasteur, at European 1.
A lively progression
Each year, approximately 480,000 infants under the age of 2 develop viral bronchiolitis. This represents almost a third of the population in question. They are particularly fragile, but not isolated: half of their entourage is contaminated, including by serious forms, specifies the CIC on its Twitter account.
Registered physician Are you interested in clinical research? @CIC1417 #Paris #Ile-de-France welcomes you.
— CIC COCHIN-PASTEUR (@CIC1417) November 6, 2016
#Mrs free 1 hour the week of December 05 then 30 minutes the week after? 3 more visits end. to overcome bronchiolitis @CIC1417
— CIC COCHIN-PASTEUR (@CIC1417) November 13, 2016
The clinical trial is broken down into five visits, carried out between the first injection and the third month. This will be supplemented by 3 follow-up calls over a period of one year, according to information provided to us by the CIC. This will make it possible to take stock of the side effects of the vaccine and its effectiveness.
The stakes are real: in its latest report on bronchiolitis, the Institute for Health Monitoring (InVS) reports an increase in cases. 1,350 visits to the emergency room for suggestive symptoms were recorded in children under 2 years old. 470 visits resulted in hospitalization. 20% of them indeed concerned bronchiolitis.
(1) People who wish to volunteer can contact the CIC by phone (01 58 41 28 60) or by email (francoise.delisle@aphp.fr)
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