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US-backed hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau newborns will not go ahead
A CDC-funded trial that would have withheld the hepatitis B birth dose from some newborns in Guinea-Bissau will not proceed, one of its Danish researchers said Wednesday, citing a lack of government approval [3].
- Ars Technica and DW África are now reporting this
- New headline Was: “Controversial US-backed vaccine trial in African newborns halted”
- Our desk filed its story
A planned hepatitis B vaccine trial in newborns in Guinea-Bissau will not go ahead, Danish researcher Frederik Schaltz-Buchholzer said Wednesday, Oct. 21, in a LinkedIn post reported by The Guardian, which said the team had not received government approval3.
The study, run by the Danish-led Bandim Health Project, was awarded a $1.6 million grant by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in December1. It would have enrolled about 14,000 newborns in two groups to examine the effects of not giving the vaccine at birth2.
International health experts called the design unethical because some babies would go without a birth dose in a country with high rates of hepatitis B, an infection that can cause lifelong liver disease1. Plans were paused in January amid that criticism1.
Guinea-Bissau's health minister, Quinhin Nantote, said last week that the government had not authorized the trial1,2, and told DW África it was cancelled2. On Monday, Oct. 19, judicial police searched the project's offices in Bissau and seized a batch of hepatitis B vaccines; police said the seizure did not by itself indicate any problem with the vaccines1.
Nantote said the country intends to introduce a universal hepatitis B birth dose, possibly in 2027, ahead of an earlier 2028 target2.
Sources
How it’s being reported
3 sources
Cops raid office of RFK Jr. allies planning “unethical” vaccine trial on babies
Leads with the police search and vaccine seizure in Bissau.
Reports Monday's police search of the Bandim Health Project offices and the seizure of vaccine doses, with background on the CDC grant and January pause.
Leaves out Predates the lead researcher's statement that the trial will not go ahead.
Governo guineense nega ter autorizado estudo sobre hepatite B
Leads with the Guinea-Bissau government's denial that it approved the study.
Portuguese-language report on the health minister's denial that the government authorized the trial and his statement that it was cancelled.
Leaves out Predates the police search and the researchers' announcement.
Controversial US-backed vaccine trial in African newborns halted
Gives this outlet’s account of the story.