University of South Florida Studies Flu Vaccine, HIV

At several dozen sites across the nation, researchers will examine whether a higher dose of the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine elicits a protective immune response in pregnant women, children, and young adults with HIV. The University of South Florida (USF) will be enrolling participants through its division of pediatric infectious disease and at the Tampa General Hospital.

Previous seasonal flu vaccine studies have shown that HIV infection and pregnancy increase the risk of a poor response to a normal 15-microgram dose, said Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. NIAID and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development are sponsoring and funding the studies.

Participants will receive two 30-microgram doses of H1N1 vaccine 21 days apart, and the study will include periodic assessments over several months. Pregnant women will be evaluated before, during, and after delivery, and their babies will be tested at ages three and six months. Children and young adults infected with HIV at birth will be assessed for seven months.

About 10 pregnant women and at least four children from the Tampa Bay area are expected to participate. Three pregnant women already have taken their first H1N1 doses, said Karen L. Bruder, principal investigator of the pregnant women's study.

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