Emory Hiring Volunteers for H1N1 Vaccine's Clinical Trials

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Emory University is recruiting healthy adults to receive injections of the new, H1N1 flu vaccine as part of the clinical trials to determine the exact dosage required when the vaccine is made available to the public, worldwide, later this year.

Emory is also looking for parents willing to allow their children older than six months to participate in the clinical trials.

"Children and young adults are considered among the most vulnerable populations for new and emerging strains of influenza, such as the current H1N1 pandemic," said one of the leaders of the clinical trials, Harry Keyserling, M.D., in a statement released by Emory University.

Dr. Keyserling said in an interview with 11Alive News on Friday that the time for testing the dose levels is short.

"Certainly the government is concerned that we're in the midst of a national health emergency, so we're trying to do everything on a rapid basis."

Dr. Keyserling said he is "afraid that we're going to have a very interesting winter."

His goal -- begin the clinical trials within the month, and figure out quickly how powerful the vaccine is.

"With this novel strain [of flu], we don't know exactly how many doses we'll need or what the dosage amount will be per injection."

He also will determine whether people should receive two rounds of flu shots this fall and winter -- a dose of the new H1N1 vaccine, plus a dose of the regular, seasonal flu vaccine.

"We'll know what to recommend to achieve the optimal protection for the community," he said. "The risk of the vaccine causing a serious problem is very low, versus the risk of influenza causing a serious problem."

Tom Skinner of the CDC is worried, describing the numbers of summer H1N1 cases as "very unusual. And it does concern us. As school starts up, we could fully expect to see this actually pick up, and more kids become infected as they go back to school."

The CDC is about to launch an education campaign in the public schools, to try to minimize the spread of the flu while the vaccine's clinical trials are underway.

"We hope at the end of the production cycle" of the new H1N1 flu vaccine, Skinner said, "we're going to have enough vaccine for everybody who wants it."

So who would want to be among the first humans to receive injections of the new, H1N1 vaccine as part of the testing process?

"We actually have had several hundred phone calls," from people asking for information about volunteering, said Dr. Keyserling. Often, he said, parents ask for their children to be part of the testing because they've had children die or become seriously ill from one strain of flu or another. "So I believe people understand how significant the disease process could be with this novel strain of flu.... so that when we have vaccine available, we will know the best way to utilize it."

Emory will pay the volunteers, and six or seven visits are required over the next several weeks.

For information, call:

877-424-HOPE (4673) for the adult clinical trials

404-727-4044 for the pediatric studies