General practitioners in Gloucester, UK, have started a trial of a conjugate meningoccal A and C vaccine, developed by Italian company Biocine, which is suitable for use in babies. The existing vaccine for meningococcus C in the UK is not recognized by immature immune systems and so cannot be used in children under 18 months.
The Biocine vaccine has been developed using technology similar to that used in the development of the new Hemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) vaccines. Meningococcal polysaccharide is conjugated to a carrier protein which is more recognizable by T lymphocytes (the current vaccine does not stimulate a T cell response and so does not produce immunological memory and long-term protection). Around 70 patients will receive the vaccine in the Phase II study, and doses will be given at two, three and four months, along with the usual diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis and Hib vaccines.
Trials of the Biocine vaccine to date have largely been carried out in adults and children in the Gambia, and small studies have been carried out in the USA and certain other countries. The company said that this was the first major trial to be undertaken in babies in a developed country. In time, the trial may be expanded to include other meningococcal vaccines coming though development, according to coordinator Keith Cartwright of the UK Public Health Laboratory Service.
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