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The appearance of a vaccine against Lyme disease on the market would be a real breakthrough, virologist Prof. Agnieszka Szuster-Ciesielska, referring to the commencement of the third phase of clinical trials on the preparation. In Poland, Lyme disease is diagnosed in approx. 20 thousand people every year. people.
- – Lyme disease is an insidious disease that is difficult to identify because it can develop in hiding for many years – says Prof. Szuster-Ciesielska
- There is currently no Lyme disease vaccine available. The previous one – a preparation called Lymerix – was withdrawn in 2002 after a series of negative opinions
- The vaccine that is currently being tested consists of three doses
- More current information can be found on the Onet homepage
As an expert from the Department of Virology and Immunology at the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin explained, Lyme disease is a big problem due to the fact that it is a very insidious disease, with many faces, which is difficult to identify, because it can develop in secret for many years.
– The disease occurs after a bite by a type infected with spirochetes Borrelia/Lyme disease tick. They are enveloped bacteria that are difficult to fight by our immune system. These bacteria are mobile, they move, hide in various places of the body, waiting for better conditions for development – emphasized prof. Szuster-Ciesielska.
Lyme disease – a disease for which there is no vaccine
There is currently no vaccine against Lyme disease. The previous formulation, Lymerix, was developed in 1998 and was on sale until 2002. – It was withdrawn from the market due to an alleged increase in the incidence of chronic arthritis, argued the anti-vaccine lobby. The power of the message was so great that the demand for Lymerix dropped until it was not profitable to produce, the virologist said.
– Since then, the search for a new vaccine has continued. Two companies, Pfizer and Valneva, have joined forces to do so, and announced in March last year that they had started a second phase of clinical trials. About 600 people aged 5 to 65 participated in it, she said.
The expert explained that VLA15 is a traditional subunit vaccine, popularly referred to as protein, that contains the surface antigen of six different bacterial serotypes Borelli.
– We have many varieties of this bacteria, while these six are the most common strains of bacteria in the United States and Europe – added Prof. Szuster-Ciesielska.
Prophylactic examinations after a tick bite are an essential element of early diagnosis of Lyme disease. You can order laboratory tests to diagnose the disease from Medonet Market.
New vaccine coming soon?
As she reported, the second phase of clinical trials on the preparation was successful. The vaccine was administered in two schedules: two-dose and three-dose. – The three-dose one turned out to be more effective. Therefore, this regimen will be continued in the Phase 12 clinical trials that are just beginning. A booster dose is also planned after XNUMX months, the virologist noted.
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– After the completion of the second phase of clinical trials, company representatives announced that the vaccine has an acceptable safety profile and a very good immune response against the vaccine proteins, Interestingly, in the group of children aged 5 to 17, the immune response was even stronger than in adults. Therefore, we are impatiently waiting for the continuation of the third phase research, the task of which will include checking how long this immunity lasts – added the professor.
According to company representatives, if everything went well, in three years – in 2025 – a vaccine against Lyme disease could be submitted for evaluation by the US FDA. “The release of this vaccine on the market would be a real breakthrough,” said the virologist.
New vaccine. Research on Poles
Prof. Szuster-Ciesielska emphasized that, unlike the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19, tested during the epidemic, none of the volunteers in the Lyme vaccine study will intentionally expose themselves to infection. – Therefore, countries where there is a high risk of contamination with the bacterium were selected for the third phase study Borrelia/Lyme diseasei.e. the United States, Finland and also Poland – added the expert.
In 2019, over 20 jobs were recorded in Poland. new cases of Lyme disease, and in the United States it is nearly 500 thousand. annually.
– Lyme disease is a very serious problem, especially when it is not properly diagnosed at the beginning of the disease; then treatment is more limited. Such a vaccine offers great hope for people exposed to ticks. It is not only about the forest environment, but also meadows and parks, because cities can also be infected – noted the virologist.