A vaccine to prevent a common respiratory disease in infants has shown promise in early human trials, according to a UK study.
The vaccine has been developed against respiratory syncytial virus, which is responsible for 200,000 deaths globally annually.
It is responsible for annual epidemics in the UK, representing 15% of admissions to children’s wards.
The Oxford University study tested the vaccine on 42 adult volunteers.
This showed that it was safe and there was evidence of the immune system responding to it.
The findings were published last night in Science Translational Medicine along with a second study of another possible vaccine led by the Pirbright Institute, Surrey.
The Oxford vaccine has been developed using a chimpanzee adenovirus and a pox virus, modified vaccinia Ankara.
Researcher Dr Christopher Green said: "The results of this trial are a positive signal that prevention of RSV is achievable and follows years of RSV vaccine research at Oxford University and by vaccine manufacturers.
"The important results of this trial should be dedicated to the members of the public who were willing to be the first to receive the vaccines."
Fellow researcher Professor Andrew Pollard said: "While I am delighted with these results, this was just a first trial.
"We need this vaccine for children and the elderly and that is where the efforts in vaccine development will now focus."
Chimpanzee adenovirus and MVA-vectored respiratory syncytial virus vaccine is safe and immunogenic in adults. Science Translational Medicine 12 August 2015 [abstract]
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