Testing New Vaccines for Flu Season.

A clinical trial is evaluating two licensed seasonal influenza vaccines, administered with or without novel adjuvants, for safety and ability to generate an immune response. Adjuvants are compounds added to vaccines to induce stronger and longer-lasting immune responses. The study has enrolled healthy adult volunteers at eight sites across the U.S. The trial is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, influenza vaccination greatly can reduce the risk of infection or severe influenza-related illness that may require hospitalization. Although seasonal influenza vaccines have been available widely for decades, their effectiveness varies from year to year, depending on how well the vaccine matches the disease-causing influenza virus strains that are...