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Scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research are advancing a vaccine that may be able to prevent strains of the common cold in the future.
But their immediate concern is the imminent flu season because nearly seven months since receiving their first samples of the novel coronavirus from a Washington state patient, they still don’t know whether catching the flu could increase the chances of getting COVID-19.
“When this virus emerged, it was sort of coming toward the tail end of the flu season. And now we have both, at the same time, and we don’t know what that’s going to look like,” said Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of emerging infectious diseases at Walter Reed in Maryland. “If you get sick with flu, is that going to make you more susceptible of getting COVID or risk of it, or vice versa? We don’t know that.”
The vaccine that Modjarrad and his team are working on would target not just COVID-19, but also other coronavirus-related illnesses, including several variants of the common cold.
“Most children, by age two or three, have been infected with one of these common cold coronaviruses,” Modjarrad said. “I don’t think people are really focused on trying to prevent the common cold, but that is, I think, an important side benefit of what we are trying to do,” he told McClatchy in an interview.
While the Walter Reed vaccine candidate is currently focused on COVID-19, the lab has structured the vaccine to be able to target different types of coronavirus. Once they have “proof of concept” that the vaccine is safe and effective, Modjarrad said, the Army lab will decide whether to pivot their efforts to creating the “pan-coronavirus” vaccine that would help prevent the common cold and other potential novel coronaviruses.
Modjarrad said that they are currently testing their vaccine in monkeys, and depending on the results, will enter into human trials toward the end of the year.
source
But their immediate concern is the imminent flu season because nearly seven months since receiving their first samples of the novel coronavirus from a Washington state patient, they still don’t know whether catching the flu could increase the chances of getting COVID-19.
“When this virus emerged, it was sort of coming toward the tail end of the flu season. And now we have both, at the same time, and we don’t know what that’s going to look like,” said Dr. Kayvon Modjarrad, director of emerging infectious diseases at Walter Reed in Maryland. “If you get sick with flu, is that going to make you more susceptible of getting COVID or risk of it, or vice versa? We don’t know that.”
The vaccine that Modjarrad and his team are working on would target not just COVID-19, but also other coronavirus-related illnesses, including several variants of the common cold.
“Most children, by age two or three, have been infected with one of these common cold coronaviruses,” Modjarrad said. “I don’t think people are really focused on trying to prevent the common cold, but that is, I think, an important side benefit of what we are trying to do,” he told McClatchy in an interview.
While the Walter Reed vaccine candidate is currently focused on COVID-19, the lab has structured the vaccine to be able to target different types of coronavirus. Once they have “proof of concept” that the vaccine is safe and effective, Modjarrad said, the Army lab will decide whether to pivot their efforts to creating the “pan-coronavirus” vaccine that would help prevent the common cold and other potential novel coronaviruses.
Modjarrad said that they are currently testing their vaccine in monkeys, and depending on the results, will enter into human trials toward the end of the year.
source
