A vaccine that could protect against norovirus, commonly known as a stomach bug resulting in vomiting and diarrhoea, is to be tested in a trial with thousands of people. The norovirus can be easily transmitted, affect people of all ages, and have major consequences such as closing hospital wards, taking children out of school and keeping parents off work. The vaccine will be tested on approximately 25,000 adults, mostly aged over 60, across more than six countries globally, over the next two years.
The researchers conducting the trial state that if successful, fewer vulnerable adults will need hospitalisation during the winter months, and there will be a decrease in the financial burden on health systems such as the UK’s NHS. Although vaccines for flu, Covid-19, and RSV already exist and protect millions of people every year, no vaccine has been licensed to date for the norovirus. The vaccine being tested is an mRNA vaccine, manufactured by Moderna, and it instructs the immune system on how to recognise and protect against invasive viruses by producing antibodies.
Dr Patrick Moore, a GP from Dorset and the key investigator of the study, acknowledges that reliance on this specific vaccine is difficult to pinpoint as there is a broad, variable diversity of genotypes exhibited over time by the virus. Consequently, the vaccine contains three of the most frequent norovirus strains to achieve the best possible outcome. The trial is a collaboration between the UK government, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) and Moderna, with 27 NHS hospitals and centres in England, Scotland, and Wales taking part.
Though the trial hopes to answer questions such as the vaccine’s durability, effectiveness, and how frequently it would need to be updated, the trial will also be investigating probable side effects of the vaccine during the trial. Norovirus infection occurs to roughly four million people each year, resulting in about 12,000 hospital admissions and leading to 80 deaths, costing the NHS approximately £100 million annually. Particularly, the elderly and vulnerable, including care home residents, are most affected, yet healthcare workers, flight attendants, childcare providers, and cruise ship passengers and staff can also be affected.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting states that norovirus puts NHS under significant stress every winter, claiming that “the UK is leading the way to develop a world-first vaccine for this vomiting bug”. If the vaccine demonstrates at least 65% efficacy, and subsequent trials occur, according to Professor Saul Faust of the University of Southampton, it could be used to protect children too. Nonetheless, Professor Faust emphasises that such a proposal is years away, with attention at the moment focused on gathering data to demonstrate how the vaccine decreases the risk of individuals becoming ill with norovirus, and they will submit it to get approval from the UK regulator
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More
