Cincinnati Children's Recruiting Healthy Women For Study of Herpes Vaccine
CINCINNATI -- One of every four women in the United States has genital herpes. Unfortunately, pregnant women with genital herpes can pass on the virus to their newborns. When infants contract neonatal herpes, the results can be tragic.
But a vaccine to prevent genital herpes is on the horizon, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center is among more than 20 institutions in the United States participating in a clinical trial to evaluate whether this investigational vaccine can prevent genital herpes in women.
Cincinnati Children's is recruiting healthy women between the ages of 18 and 30 with no history or symptoms of genital herpes to participate in this study, which is known as the Herpevac Trial for Women. Potential candidates will have a blood sample drawn to determine whether they have ever been infected with either oral or genital herpes. Those who test negative may qualify for the clinical trial.
Participants will receive three doses of either the investigational vaccine or a "control" vaccine. Blood and urine samples will be taken at nine scheduled visits over a 20-month period. Financial compensation is included. Participants cannot contract herpes by getting the vaccine.
The study is co-sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
Although transmission of herpes to newborns is rare, those who do contract herpes may suffer serious neurological damage, mental retardation or death. It's fear of these terrible consequences, rather than the level of risk, that makes neonatal herpes a concern.
Researchers at Cincinnati Children's have been involved with the vaccine for more than a decade. They were lead investigators of two studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine. They also played an active role in designing the Herpevac study and are among the study's lead investigators.
To learn more about participating in the Herpevac Trial for Women, call the Gamble Program for Clinical Studies at Cincinnati Children's, 513-636-7699.
Contact Information
Jim Feuer, 513-636-4656,
jim.feuer@cchmc.org
