La Mesa clinic conducting vaccine trials against RSV
LA MESA, Calif. — A local La Mesa clinic is looking for patients to test vaccine trials for RSV.
Researchers are hoping these vaccine trials can help combat the so-called “tripledemic” that many health officials are warning about.
Researchers are looking for more patients to take part in this study.
Jamie Williams of Paradigm Clinical Research showed FOX 5 kits they use to track antibodies in patients against respiratory syncytial virus or RSV.
“The idea is that the subjects get one vaccine and they’re protected against RSV, so we follow them both for safety and to see if they develop RSV throughout the season,” said Williams.
She is helping conduct clinic trials of an mRNA vaccine to protect against RSV in the elderly population.
“What that means is there’s no live virus in the vaccine,” said Jamie. “We give that vaccine like a message and that tells your body to develop antibodies, which our immune systems build to fight infection.”
The study comes at a time when respiratory virus cases are rising across the county. Health officials are warning of a “tripledemic” surge of cases of flu, COVID-19 and RSV.
“The numbers are really high right now and there is research saying that our bodies are actually capable of carrying more than one virus at a time,” says Williams.
County health officials say they don’t have a role in clinical trials, but released its latest respiratory virus report. It reported nearly 90,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 3700 flu cases in the county.
“Having those cases helps bring awareness of how serious RSV can be. We’re trying to get subjects vaccinated before those cases really get out of control,” says Williams.
Paradigm Clinical Research says it is still looking for hundreds of patients in the San Diego and La mesa area to participate. They say each patient will receive compensation per visit.