(KMOX) — Vaccine researchers at Saint Louis University School of Medicine are looking for volunteers in a new influenza study that is a bit different from all the rest.
This research study aims to understand what happens when a person is infected with the flu virus.
"This study will involve actually giving what we call a challenge strain of influenza to healthy adult volunteers and looking at what are the immune responses that are capable of reducing the level of infection," said SLU Care's Dr. Daniel Hoft, director of Saint Louis University's Center for Vaccine Development.
The long-range goal is to possibly come up with a universal flu vaccine that would protect against all strains of the virus and could eventually replace the need for an annual flu shot.
"What we really hope to do is identify new immune mechanisms that are capable of providing a broader immunologic protective effect against influenza," Dr. Hoft tells KMOX.
"The reason to do that is — as everyone knows — we need to get vaccinated every year against the flu because the viral strains change every year. This is a massive challenge and we don't always get it right. If we can determine what immune responses can protect more broadly, perhaps we won't have to vaccinate people yearly. The long term best goal would be to make a universal influenza vaccine."
Volunteers will be housed for 10 to 12 days in Saint Louis University's Salus Center, formerly the Water Tower Inn at South Grand and Lafayette. The study is set to begin on Sunday, Oct. 20.
"We will be bringing two cohorts of approximately 10 subjects into our quarantined facility that we built here at Saint Louis University," Dr. Hoft says. "This will allow volunteers to get challenged with influenza and then be safely housed to make sure that they don't have a problem, as well as to contain the infection so it doesn't infect other people that might have a higher risk."
Volunteers will be compensated for their time and participation. It is expected that participation will last about 4 months, including screening.
To take part, candidates must be 18 to 49 years old and healthy. To discuss volunteering, contact a nurse at 314-977-6333 or 1-866-410-6333 (toll-free), email vaccine@slu.edu or visit vaccine.slu.edu — refer to study IRB #30552 — the Influenza Challenge Study.