Volunteers Wanted to Test the Swine Flu Vaccine

Filed under Swine Flu Vaccine |

Drug companies and the government have put out a call for volunteers to test the first swine flu vaccines.

They plan to test adults first and then, if there are no problems, they will test the vaccines in children 6 months and older. Test subjects will get two shots 21 days apart and will then have blood tests to determine whether the shots triggered enough immune protection against the virus.

But the studies won't be large enough to catch any very rare side effect. The last mass vaccination against a different swine flu, in the U.S. in 1976, was marred by reports of paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome. Scientists could never prove whether that link was real or coincidence, but all flu vaccine today comes with a warning about Guillain-Barre — and the government has pledged intense monitoring for rare reactions if mass swine flu vaccinations go forward.