Funded by the Serum Institute of India, the study will assess whether this new vaccine can generate a protective immune response against these bacteria which cause a disease in millions of people in South Asia every year, especially children.
The study will involve controlled exposure of participants to live paratyphoid bacteria to evaluate the vaccine’s effectiveness against this microbe. Participants will receive either the experimental vaccine or a control vaccine and, one month later, will be exposed to the bacteria under carefully monitored conditions.
Enteric fever, which is most prevalent in low-income regions with poor sanitation, leads to an estimated 13 million cases and 130,000 deaths each year. While vaccines exist for typhoid fever, there is currently no licensed vaccine for paratyphoid A.
Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine group, and Chief Investigator of the BiVISTA study said:
"This is a landmark moment in the fight against enteric fever. Not only would this be the first licensed vaccine specifically for paratyphoid A, but this could also be the first combined vaccine to be licensed to protect against both paratyphoid and typhoid. If successful, this vaccine could significantly reduce the global burden of enteric fever, a disease that continues to affect millions in low-income countries."
The study is part of the Oxford Vaccine Group’s ongoing efforts to develop new vaccines and improve existing ones to enhance health outcomes globally.
For more information about the BiVISTA study, visit the study website: https://www.ovg.ox.ac.uk/studies/bivista