Lyme Vaccination
The search for volunteers increases as the U.S. and Europe are to test their first potential vaccination against Lyme disease in the past 2 decades. Pfizer and French biotech Valneva aim to develop a new vaccine that would protect young kids and adults.
Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer vaccination chief, talks about the recognition of the new vaccine, explaining the lack of severity in people’s minds about Lyme. Untreated Lyme could cause severe arthritis and damage to the heart and nervous system. Dr. Gary Wormser, a Lyme expert talking about the vaccine says that it doesn’t use the same strategy as normal vaccines which fight the infection after its spread. This vaccination blocks a tick bite from transmitting the infection.
The companies aim to recruit 6,000 people in the Lyme-prone region to test for the vaccination. The subjects are supposed to receive 3 shots of the vaccination or a placebo from this spring to next spring’s tick season.
