WA: world trial may lead to vaccine for child asthma

AAP General News (Australia)
04-03-2006
WA: world trial may lead to vaccine for child asthma

By Jo Prichard

PERTH, April 3 AAP - A world first trial to create a vaccine for childhood asthma has
been launched in Perth.

The trial, involving 200 children in Perth, Melbourne and New York, is based on a daily
dose of drops under the tongue, made up of house dust, grass and cat allergens.

It is the same method currently being used in "desensitization" programs for children
and adults, where small doses of an asthma-causing allergen are administered to try and
prevent further disease.

But the new trial will administer the vaccine to children who do not already have asthma,
but might have a genetic risk of developing it.

"There's a 12-month treatment period and then we're following the children through
until the age of five, so there is a four- to five-year period before we will be absolutely
certain that this works," said Professor Peter Sly from the Telethon Institute for Child
Health Research in Perth.

"If it's successful it will change the way that people look at preventing asthma in the future."

He said a similar kind of trial had already been done on animals, but not on humans.

"This is the first `in-man' trial. And ... if this trial is successful, it won't be
the last trial."

One family whose 21-month-old child Xavier will take part in the trial, is cautious
about being involved, but wants to help future asthma sufferers.

"You don't necessary want to dope your child up for the sake of doping them up," said
Perth mother Juliann Mackay.

"(But) my husband, you know, suffered with childhood asthma as did his siblings and
(it was) not pleasant for him so, you know, if we can try and minimise that for our son...."

Prof Sly said in the decade and a half the allergen had been used in desensitisation
programs, there had never been a serious systemic reaction.

"Nothing in life is absolutely safe. We can give the best reassurances we can, but
in the end we have to do this trial to show that it's both effective and safe," he said.

The institute is calling for parents whose children have not been diagnosed with asthma,
but have a family history of it, to come forward.

They need 50 children in Perth and 150 in Melbourne and New York.

The trial will later be expanded to Sweden and Germany.

AAP jp/it/nf

KEYWORD: ASTHMA

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