22 June 2018
CONSTANT study
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation
Trust is recruiting healthy adults aged 18-45 years to a research
study of a new investigational Hepatitis B vaccine.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that can be
transmitted between people by close contact, between pregnant
mothers and their infants around the time of delivery and in the
healthcare setting by contaminated needles or body fluids. It can
cause a serious acute illness affecting the liver and causing
jaundice. In some people the infection becomes chronic and can lead
to liver failure or liver cancer. At present there is no curative
treatment for hepatitis B.
Highly effective vaccines that protect against
acquiring the infection have been available since the 1980s. Until
recently, in the UK, vaccination was provided to people at
increased risk of hepatitis B including healthcare workers, infants
of mothers with hepatitis B and people who share needles. Since
2016 all infants are offered to protection against hepatitis B
along with several other infections as part of the universal
primary immunisation programme for all children.
However, most of the adult population in the UK
have never received a vaccination against hepatitis B.
In this study, people taking part are all given
hepatitis B vaccine. Either they receive doses of a new
investigational vaccine which has been in use for some time in
other countries but is not yet approved in Europe or doses of a
vaccine that has been licensed and in use in Europe for many years.
The new investigational vaccine contains 3 slightly different
versions of the hepatitis B protein that induces protective immune
responses and may produce high levels of seroprotection against
Hepatitis B. The study aims to show that different lots of the
investigational vaccine produce the same immune response and to
test whether this response is at least as good as the licensed
vaccine. Neither vaccine contains any live viruses and so neither
can cause any infection.
In the study, blood samples are taken to check
the level of the immune response. Participants are compensated for
travel costs and time and trouble.
T. Segun, a patient from St. George's, London
said: "I went through hell when I had hepatitis B virus. Had I
known I would have been vaccinated against this virus before I got
it. I really recommend people get vaccinated against hepatitis B
virus, as no one knows when and how one may get infected through
blood or bodily fluids."
People interested in knowing more about the
study should contact:
Tel: 0117 342 9212
Email: hepatology.research@uhbristol.nhs.uk
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