The Oulu Vaccine Research Clinic is researching a new combination vaccine for infants. The vaccine trial, organized under the auspices of Tampere University School of Medicine, will include 800 infants and will be administered at several regional vaccine research clinics in Finland.
The combination vaccine is a so-called hexavalent vaccine and includes hepatitis B, which is not yet included in the vaccination program currently in use in Finnish pediatric health clinics. The hexavalent vaccine is routinely used in the vaccination schedule of almost every other country in Europe.
In Finland, introduction of the vaccine has been held up, despite the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommendation that infants be vaccinated against type B hepatitis.
In addition to hepatitis B, the combination vaccine currently being researched provides immunity against diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, polio, and haemophilus influenzae type B.
The vaccine has been developed by pharmaceutical company SanofiPasteur MSD and is comprised of various vaccines already in common use in Europe. The aim of the trial is to estimate the immunity, safety and tolerability of the hexavalent vaccine when administered simultaneously with the rotavirus vaccine and the pneumococcal vaccine.
Professor Timo Vesikari of the Vaccine Research Center notes that because of tourism and migration the Nordic countries are no longer safe from hepatitis B infections. Hepatitis is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids.
Children in particular remain carriers of the virus once infected, and can transmit the disease to others.