He passed the test successfully. A viral pseudo-particle (VLP) vaccine has been successfully tested on 25 healthy volunteers. The test was carried out as part of a phase 1 clinical trial to verify the safety of a possible treatment against chikungunya and its effectiveness in the fight against this infectious disease of tropical origin.
the chikungunya virus, which first appeared in Africa and Asia, is carried by the tiger mosquito Aedes. It causes fever, headache, joint pain and severe muscle pain in patients bitten by the offending mosquitoes. At present, there is no treatment capable of protecting against this disease.
Two effective injections
This is the whole point of this new vaccine developed by American researchers and the results of which are unveiled in the scientific journal The Lancet. The volunteers received three injections of the vaccine in total. Three assays were tested. Only one volunteer received the same dosage. The results were convincing from the first injection since the vaccine was generally well tolerated. Most of the volunteers developed an immune response from the first injection. But the second injection turned out to be even more effective. All of them then developed numerous antibodies. “Eleven months after vaccination the antibody levels were comparable to those seen in people who recovered after infection with chikungunya, which seems to indicate that the VLP vaccine could provide long-term protection against the virus,” explained Dr. Julie Ledgerwood of the National Institute of Health.
In recent months, the chikungunya has been talked about. The rampant progression of the virus in the caribbeanas in United Statesraised concern among health authorities in the countries concerned.
