Compound discovered that boosts effect of vaccines against HIV and flu

ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2012) — Oxford University scientists have discovered a compound that greatly boosts the effect of vaccines against viruses like flu, HIV and herpes in mice.

An 'adjuvant' is a substance added to a vaccine to enhance the immune response and offer better protection against infection.

The Oxford University team, along with Swedish and US colleagues, have shown that a type of polymer called polyethyleneimine (PEI) is a potent adjuvant for test vaccines against HIV, flu and herpes when given in mice.

The researchers were part-funded by the UK Medical Research Council and report their findings in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Mice given a single dose of a flu vaccine including PEI via a nasal droplet were completely protected against a lethal dose of flu. This was a marked improvement over mice given the flu vaccine without an adjuvant or in formulations with other adjuvants.

The Oxford researchers now intend to test the PEI adjuvant in ferrets, a better animal model for studying flu. They also want to understand how long the protection lasts for. It is likely to be a couple of years before a flu vaccine using the adjuvant could be tested in clinical trials in humans, the researchers say.

'Gaining complete protection against flu from just one immunisation is pretty unheard of, even in a study in mice,' says Professor Quentin Sattentau of the Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford University, who led the work. 'This gives us confidence that PEI has the potential to be a potent adjuvant for vaccines against viruses like flu or HIV, though there are many steps ahead if it is ever to be used in humans.'

HIV, flu and herpes are some of the most difficult targets to develop vaccines against. HIV and flu viruses are able to change and evolve to escape immune responses stimulated by vaccines. There aren't any effective vaccines against HIV and herpes as yet, and the flu vaccine needs reformulating each year and doesn't offer complete protection to everyone who receives it. Finding better adjuvants could help in developing more effective vaccines against these diseases.

Most vaccines include an adjuvant. The main ingredient of the vaccine -- whether it is a dead or disabled pathogen, or just a part of the virus or bacteria causing the disease -- primes the body's immune system so it knows what to attack in case of infection. But the adjuvant is needed as well to stimulate this process.

While the need for adjuvants in vaccines has been recognised for nearly 100 years, the way adjuvants work has only recently been understood. The result has been that only a small set of adjuvants is used in current vaccines, often for historical reasons.

The most common adjuvant by far is alum, an aluminium-containing compound that has been given in many different vaccines worldwide for decades. However, alum is not the most potent adjuvant for many vaccine designs.

'There is a need to develop new adjuvants to get the most appropriate immune response from vaccines,' says Professor Sattentau, who is also a James Martin Senior Fellow at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

The Oxford University team found that PEI, a standard polymer often used in genetic and cell biology, has strong adjuvant activity.

When included in a vaccine with a protein from HIV, flu or herpes virus, mice subsequently mounted a strong immune response against that virus. The immune response was stronger than with other adjuvants that are currently being investigated.

The team also showed that PEI is a potent adjuvant in rabbits, showing the effect is not just specific to mice and could be general.

Another potential advantage of PEI is that it works well as an adjuvant for 'mucosal vaccines'. These vaccines are taken up the nose or in the mouth and absorbed through the mucus-lined tissues there, getting rid of any pain and anxiety from a needle. Mucosal vaccines may also be better in some ways as mucosal tissues are the sites of infection for these diseases (airways for respiratory diseases, genital mucosa for HIV and herpes).

Professor Sattentau suggests that: 'In the best of all possible worlds, you could imagine people would have one dose of flu vaccine that they'd just sniff up their nose or put under their tongue. And that would be it: no injections and they'd be protected from flu for a number of years.

'It's just a vision for the future at the moment, but this promising adjuvant suggests it is a vision that is at least possible.'

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oxford, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Study challenges concerns on effectiveness of administering pneumococcal, shingles vaccines together

ScienceDaily (May 11, 2011) — Administering both the pneumococcal and the herpes zoster vaccines to patients during the same visit is beneficial and does not appear to compromise the protective effect of the zoster vaccine, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the journal Vaccine.

The study's findings challenge information in the zoster vaccine manufacturer's package insert. This new information is important to patients who find it more convenient and less costly to receive both vaccines from their health care providers during the same visit.

A revision to the zoster vaccine package insert, approved in 2009, stated that the zoster vaccine and the pneumococcal vaccine should not be given together because such concurrent use reduced the ability of the zoster vaccine to generate an immune response.

"Our study found no evidence that receiving the zoster vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine on the same day would compromise the immune response necessary to protect against herpes zoster, also known as shingles," noted study lead author Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena, Calif.

The study was conducted from Jan. 1, 2007, to June 30, 2010, starting from the date of receipt of the zoster vaccine for two groups of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members, 60 years of age and older. The incidence of herpes zoster after vaccination with a zoster vaccine in the population receiving both vaccines on the same day was compared to that in the population receiving a pneumococcal vaccine from one year to 30 days before the zoster vaccine. Vaccinations and the incidence of herpes zoster cases were identified by electronic health records.

Included in the study were two groups or cohorts: 7,187 people who received both vaccines at the same time and 7,179 people who received the two vaccines at different times (nonconcurrently). There were 114 herpes zoster cases identified in the study: 56 cases in the concurrent group, and 58 cases in the nonconcurrent vaccination group. The study found no statistically significant difference in incidence of shingles between the two groups.

Dr. Tseng adds, "Ideally, when a new vaccine is introduced to the public, one should consider giving it at the same time as other vaccines to increase coverage levels and minimize administration costs, if there are no immune response issues or safety concerns."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine protects against 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria, including those most likely to cause serious disease. Pneumococcal disease can result in long-term problems such as like brain damage, hearing loss and limb loss, and in some cases can be fatal. Most healthy adults who get the vaccine develop protection to most or all of these types within two to three weeks of getting the shot.

The risk of developing shingles during a lifetime is about 30 percent, and there are more than 1 million episodes of shingles every year in the United States. Shingles is a painful condition that can last months or years and can seriously impact quality of life. Less than 7 percent of the eligible U.S. population was vaccinated for herpes zoster by the end of 2008.

The CDC continues to recommend that the zoster vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine be administered at the same visit if the person is eligible for both vaccines.

The FDA approved the package label change in 2009 based on a research study by Merck that found antibody levels to the herpes zoster virus were lowered if the vaccine was administered concomitantly with pneumonia vaccine. However that study used the antibody level as the marker of protection, but it is the cell-mediated immunity against the herpes virus, instead of the antibody level that protects against the disease explained Dr. Tseng.

"This new study provides even stronger data because it relies on the measurement of the occurrence of disease rather than intermediate markers of immunity," Tseng said.

This study is the latest in a series of published Kaiser Permanente studies undertaken to better understand vaccine effectiveness and safety:

A study of 300,000 people published in JAMA earlier this year by Dr. Tseng found that receiving the herpes zoster vaccine was associated with a 55 percent reduced risk of developing shingles.Another Tseng study published in JAMA last year found the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccination is not associated with a reduced risk of heart attacks or strokes.Another Kaiser Permanente study found the combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (MMRV) is associated with double the risk of febrile seizures for 1- to 2-year-old children compared to same-day administration of the separate vaccine for MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and the varicella (V) vaccine for chickenpox.Other recent published Kaiser Permanente studies found children of parents who refuse vaccines are nine times more likely to get chickenpox and 23 times more likely to get whooping cough compared to fully immunized children. A study published last year found that herpes zoster, also known as shingles, is very rare among children who have been vaccinated against chickenpox.

Co-authors of the paper include Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, Ning Smith, PhD, Lina S. Sy, MPH, and Steven J. Jacobsen, MD, PhD, with Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Kaiser Permanente, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Hung Fu Tseng, Ning Smith, Lina S. Sy, Steven J. Jacobsen. Evaluation of the incidence of herpes zoster after concomitant administration of zoster vaccine and polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine. Vaccine, 2011; 29 (20): 3628 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.03.018

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here

Study challenges concerns on effectiveness of administering pneumococcal, shingles vaccines together

ScienceDaily (May 11, 2011) — Administering both the pneumococcal and the herpes zoster vaccines to patients during the same visit is beneficial and does not appear to compromise the protective effect of the zoster vaccine, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the journal Vaccine.

The study's findings challenge information in the zoster vaccine manufacturer's package insert. This new information is important to patients who find it more convenient and less costly to receive both vaccines from their health care providers during the same visit.

A revision to the zoster vaccine package insert, approved in 2009, stated that the zoster vaccine and the pneumococcal vaccine should not be given together because such concurrent use reduced the ability of the zoster vaccine to generate an immune response.

"Our study found no evidence that receiving the zoster vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine on the same day would compromise the immune response necessary to protect against herpes zoster, also known as shingles," noted study lead author Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation in Pasadena, Calif.

The study was conducted from Jan. 1, 2007, to June 30, 2010, starting from the date of receipt of the zoster vaccine for two groups of Kaiser Permanente Southern California members, 60 years of age and older. The incidence of herpes zoster after vaccination with a zoster vaccine in the population receiving both vaccines on the same day was compared to that in the population receiving a pneumococcal vaccine from one year to 30 days before the zoster vaccine. Vaccinations and the incidence of herpes zoster cases were identified by electronic health records.

Included in the study were two groups or cohorts: 7,187 people who received both vaccines at the same time and 7,179 people who received the two vaccines at different times (nonconcurrently). There were 114 herpes zoster cases identified in the study: 56 cases in the concurrent group, and 58 cases in the nonconcurrent vaccination group. The study found no statistically significant difference in incidence of shingles between the two groups.

Dr. Tseng adds, "Ideally, when a new vaccine is introduced to the public, one should consider giving it at the same time as other vaccines to increase coverage levels and minimize administration costs, if there are no immune response issues or safety concerns."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine protects against 23 types of pneumococcal bacteria, including those most likely to cause serious disease. Pneumococcal disease can result in long-term problems such as like brain damage, hearing loss and limb loss, and in some cases can be fatal. Most healthy adults who get the vaccine develop protection to most or all of these types within two to three weeks of getting the shot.

The risk of developing shingles during a lifetime is about 30 percent, and there are more than 1 million episodes of shingles every year in the United States. Shingles is a painful condition that can last months or years and can seriously impact quality of life. Less than 7 percent of the eligible U.S. population was vaccinated for herpes zoster by the end of 2008.

The CDC continues to recommend that the zoster vaccine and pneumococcal vaccine be administered at the same visit if the person is eligible for both vaccines.

The FDA approved the package label change in 2009 based on a research study by Merck that found antibody levels to the herpes zoster virus were lowered if the vaccine was administered concomitantly with pneumonia vaccine. However that study used the antibody level as the marker of protection, but it is the cell-mediated immunity against the herpes virus, instead of the antibody level that protects against the disease explained Dr. Tseng.

"This new study provides even stronger data because it relies on the measurement of the occurrence of disease rather than intermediate markers of immunity," Tseng said.

This study is the latest in a series of published Kaiser Permanente studies undertaken to better understand vaccine effectiveness and safety:

A study of 300,000 people published in JAMA earlier this year by Dr. Tseng found that receiving the herpes zoster vaccine was associated with a 55 percent reduced risk of developing shingles.Another Tseng study published in JAMA last year found the pneumococcal pneumonia vaccination is not associated with a reduced risk of heart attacks or strokes.Another Kaiser Permanente study found the combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (MMRV) is associated with double the risk of febrile seizures for 1- to 2-year-old children compared to same-day administration of the separate vaccine for MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and the varicella (V) vaccine for chickenpox.Other recent published Kaiser Permanente studies found children of parents who refuse vaccines are nine times more likely to get chickenpox and 23 times more likely to get whooping cough compared to fully immunized children. A study published last year found that herpes zoster, also known as shingles, is very rare among children who have been vaccinated against chickenpox.

Co-authors of the paper include Hung Fu Tseng, PhD, MPH, Ning Smith, PhD, Lina S. Sy, MPH, and Steven J. Jacobsen, MD, PhD, with Kaiser Permanente Department of Research & Evaluation.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Kaiser Permanente, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Hung Fu Tseng, Ning Smith, Lina S. Sy, Steven J. Jacobsen. Evaluation of the incidence of herpes zoster after concomitant administration of zoster vaccine and polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine. Vaccine, 2011; 29 (20): 3628 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2011.03.018

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

View the original article here