By Godfred A. Polkuu
Navrongo (U/E), March 1, GNA – The Navrongo Health Research Centre (NHRC) in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality of the Upper East Region, in partnership with the Kintampo Health Research Centre, has successfully completed the first phase in-human trial of the Lassa fever vaccine.
Dr Patrick Odum Ansah, the Director of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, disclosed this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, at the climax of a two-day scientific review meeting.
He said the NHRC had for the past three years been involved in the development of the Lassa fever vaccine, however, the Centre commenced the first phase of the vaccine trial in humans in September 2022 after approval from the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA).
Dr Ansah said the vaccine was introduced into 18 sets of people, each recruited in Navrongo and Kintampo, and that “All the 18 have had the vaccine and we didn’t see any side effects.”
He said the Centres initially planned to recruit 54 in each area, but after the vaccine was introduced to the 18 recruited people, the evidence was quite conclusive for it to be moved on to the next stage.
The review meeting on the theme: “Exploring the synergies between health research and academia for development and excellence in tertiary education,” was to share knowledge and discuss the successes and challenges in these areas.
Dr Ansah said Lassa fever was a zoonotic disease with acute and potentially fatal illness caused by the Lassa virus, with prevalence in many West African countries, including Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Benin.
Dr Ansah said the fever had been identified as one of the epidemic-prone diseases that might come up in the future.
He said, “We have known these haemorrhagic fevers for a while now and they keep appearing as sporadic outbreaks in the West African sub-region and it is believed that Lassa fever is up in the hierarchy and can come up.
“Unfortunately, there is no vaccine or drug that can treat or prevent Lassa fever infection. We can only manage the signs and symptoms when people contract the disease,” he said.
The Director said, “We are now working on the results of the trial, and we hope to develop a protocol for the next phase. This is being done in collaboration with the World Food Programme (WHO) and other relevant agencies.”
He said this was because the vaccine needed to be developed quickly and so all available scientific evidence were being gathered to fast-track the process.
“For now, we are on hold, waiting for the study report. In the next phase, we would still look at safety and efficacy. We would give it to more human subjects and if the vaccine is still safe and shows signs of efficacy, we can progress to phase three,” he said.
Dr Ansah said in phase three of the trial, the sample size would be increased to involve a lot more people, to confirm the efficacy.
He said depending on the safety and efficacy profile of the vaccine, the regulatory agencies would make the decision to either license the vaccine for use or not.
GNA