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Vaccine Against Lyme Disease May be in Its Last Stages of Testing

Vaccine Against Lyme Disease May be in Its Last Stages of Testing

By Yehudit Garmaise

Chronic Fatigue, Facial palsy, and inflammation of the brain are only some of the dreaded symptoms that can result from Lyme Disease, however, a vaccine that protects against Lyme is in its third phase of a clinical study.

If the shot performs well in its clinical study of humans, Pfizer and French drugmaker Valneva, the vaccine’s creators, would likely seek authorization for the Lyme vaccine in 2025, National Public Radio reported.

If the vaccine gains regulators’ approval, vaccinated patients who get bitten by ticks that carry Lyme, will be protected from the dreaded disease.

Health experts urge people to check themselves for ticks after spending time outdoors while remembering that the longer ticks remain in the skin, the greater chances they have of infecting people. 

"We are extremely pleased to reach this important milestone in the development of VLA15," said Valneva's chief medical officer, Juan Carlos Jaramillo, who added that "Lyme disease continues to spread.”

Decades ago, an effective Lyme Disease vaccine, called LYMERix, was on the market, but drugmakers stopped making it after some users blamed it for adverse reactions, such as arthritis.

The US Food and Drug Administration did not find evidence that supported the complaints of some of the users of the previous Lyme vaccine, however, after the use of the vaccine plummeted, drugmakers discontinued its production.

The study that's currently underway includes some 6,000 American and European participants who are at least 5 years old and who live in places where Lyme disease is "highly endemic," Pfizer and Valneva said.

Photo: Flickr


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