Take part in our research into a nasal vaccine for pneumonia.
If you are aged between 50 and 84, generally healthy and a non-smoker, find out more.
What is the purpose of the study?
We are developing a new vaccine to protect against bacteria called Pneumococcus.
We invite volunteers to have a few drops of the bacteria in the nose followed by careful monitoring. (You will be paid for your time and inconvenience)
Small numbers of these bacteria are often found in the nose. Usually, the carrier does not know the bacteria are there. In most adults this is present at least once per year and more often in children. We think that small numbers of bacteria present in the nose (“nasal carriage”) can help to protect people against disease.
Mild infections with pneumococcus are very common, such as ear infections in children. But pneumococcus can also infect the lung (causing pneumonia) or the brain (causing meningitis) or the blood (causing sepsis). These severe infections are very uncommon in healthy adults: about 50 cases in Liverpool per year. Very young children and adults who are elderly (mainly those who have other illnesses) are more likely to become ill.
We may be able to protect people against severe disease from pneumococcus using a vaccine which could be sprayed into the nose. We don’t yet know if this will work.
To test the idea, our research team want to study what happens when small numbers of the bacteria are put up the nose of healthy volunteers. We have already studied this using more than 500 volunteers, and have found this type of study to be safe.
All of the volunteers we have studied so far have been less than fifty years of age. In order to develop a vaccine that will protect older people, we need to understand the immune responses to bacteria in adults aged over fifty.
Would you like to take part in our research?
The information leaflet attached tells you how you could take part. A member of our team will also discuss it with you: please ask us if you have questions. You may want to talk to other people about the study: please do so. Take your time to decide if you want to be involved.
If you would like to take part in our research and are aged between 50 and 84, generally healthy and a non-smoker, please contact Respiratory Research for further information:
Text: 2vol2 to 88802
Email: 2volresearch@lstmed.ac.uk
Tel: 0151 706 3381
