December 18, 2009
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand began a clinical trial on Friday of a nasal vaccine for swine flu that had been delayed for three months, a senior health official said.
After battling to stabilise the vaccine that is aimed at stopping the spread of the A(H1N1) virus, Thailand's state pharmaceutical body said it was finally ready to press ahead with the trial, beginning with 24 volunteers.
"After completing the trial the committee will evaluate the vaccine's safety and if it is safe for humans we will register it with the Thai Food and Drug Administration," said Vichai Chokevivwat, president of the Government Phamaceutical Organisation (GPO).
He said the vaccine, administered by nasal spray, is an attenuated inoculation that uses still living micro-organisms.
Fifteen men and nine women have been split into two groups of 12 to test different levels of the vaccine over a 28-day period, Vichai said.
He said the volunteers will be kept in quarantine undergoing tests for one week following their first dose of the vaccine, and will receive a second dose three weeks into the trial.
The results will not be known for two to four months, he said, and then a larger trial of 400 people will be carried out.
On Thursday, Thailand confirmed its first case of swine flu in a pig which caught the virus from a human.
The Ministry of Public Health estimates that 8.5 million Thais have contracted swine flu but has only 29,741 confirmed cases with 190 fatalities since May.
