Two new vaccines which could ease symptoms for viruses which affect breathing are being trialled in Norfolk.
A team at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is carrying out early studies into the treatments.
The scientific team is being led by University Of Oxford experts, with the vaccines aiming to fight RSC (Respiratory Synctial Virus) and hMPV (human metapneumovirus).
RSC can cause mild respiratory problems in many children, and can reinfect people in later life. In severe cases, it can cause airways to become severely inflamed and make breathing difficult.
Professor Paul Clarke, Consultant Neonatologist and local Principal Investigator on the study, said: “RSV and hMPV are two of the leading causes of respiratory infections in children, the elderly and immunocompromised patients worldwide. This trial is an important early step in the development of a paediatric vaccine against RSV and hMPV.”
The new vaccines will work by asking our bodies to produce a protein which helps fight it, and our immune systems will then remember how to create the protein if we get exposed to the virus later.
