Clinical Trial Testing Topical Cream Plus Influenza Vaccine in Progress

A phase 1 clinical trial examining whether a topical cream can enhance the immune response conferred by a “pre-pandemic” influenza vaccine is underway at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Investigators are evaluating whether imiquimod cream, which is commonly used to treat genital warts and certain skin cancers, can boost the body’s immune response to an H5N1 influenza vaccine.

The trial is enrolling 50 healthy adults ages 18-50 years. Baylor is one of the vaccine and treatment evaluation units (VTEUs)—a network of clinical research sites that can rapidly enroll large volunteer cohorts to evaluate experimental vaccines against infectious diseases. VTEUs are funded and managed by NIAID.

H5N1 is an avian influenza virus that causes severe respiratory illness in birds. In rare circumstances, humans have contracted H5N1 influenza through direct or indirect contact with infected birds, such as poultry.

Infections in people can be serious and deadly—the World Health Organization reported 860 cases of H5N1 influenza, 454 of them fatal, from 2003 through July 20. H5N1 influenza currently does not spread easily from human to human. However, like all influenza viruses, the virus undergoes constant genetic changes and it is possible that it may become more easily transmissible and cause a pandemic.

Participants in the VTEU trial will receive an H5N1 vaccine that was designed for use in a potential pandemic. The vaccine, developed with some NIAID support, is made from an inactivated, or “killed,” influenza virus. After the vaccine was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2007, it was added to the National Pre-pandemic Influenza Vaccine Stockpile.