Trials have begun in Leicester of the first swine flu vaccine. Some 175 people have enrolled in the program, which will be taking place at the Leicester Royal Infirmary.
The volunteers will receive two shots of the vaccine, and their blood will then be tested to see their levels of immunity. The trial is also designed to discover the best time gap to leave before giving patients the first and second dose of vaccine.
The tests will be lead by Dr. Iain Stephenson, a consultant in infectious diseases and a clinical senior lecturer at Leicester University.
As the trial began, the government announced that the number of new cases of swine flu was falling, though the total number of deaths rose to 36. New diagnosis over the past week fell from 110,000 to 30,000. However there were warnings that the country could expect a new wave of cases when schools began the new term in September.
The possibility was also raised that ministers would order the vaccinatation every school-aged child in the UK.
Dr. Stephenson said that the vaccine was not experimental, as it was created in the same way that the seasonal flu vaccine is manufactured. He said the only difference was in the strain of influenza it was designed to treat.
He added that it was almost certain that patients would need two doses of vaccine rather than one, saying that while most people’s immune system was able to fight the seasonal flu, swine flu is a new infection “none of us have seen before.”