Researchers are seeking thousands of volunteers in the U.S. and Europe to test the first potential vaccine against Lyme disease in 20 years -- in hopes of better fighting the tick-borne threat.
Robert Terwilliger, right, of Williamsburg, Pa., who is participating in a Lyme disease vaccine trial at the Altoona Center for Clinical Research, is injected with either the new vaccine or a placebo, by registered nurse Janae Roland, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, in Duncansville, Pa. Lyme is a growing problem, with cases steadily rising and warming weather helping ticks expand their habitat. – Researchers are seeking thousands of volunteers in the U.S.
“It’s always a worry, you know? Especially when you’re sitting in a tree stand hunting and you feel something crawling on you,” said Terwilliger, 60, of Williamsburg, Pennsylvania. “You’ve got to be very, very cautious.” Most vaccines against other diseases work after people are exposed to a germ. The Lyme vaccine offers a different strategy — working a step earlier to block a tick bite from transmitting the infection, said Dr. Gary Wormser, a Lyme expert at New York Medical College who isn’t involved with the new research.
“We’re really looking at something that’s a seasonal vaccine,” Anderson said, so people have high antibody levels during the months when ticks are most active. While the new Pfizer-Valneva vaccine also targets the OspA protein, it's engineered somewhat differently than its predecessor and also targets six Lyme strains in the U.S. and Europe instead of just one.
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