Journal article
The use of a placebo in vaccine trials
Injecting an infant, who cannot consent, with a saline solution that can do no good is not an activity that anyone would want to undertake lightly, yet this is what happens frequently in the course of paediatric vaccine trials. When the efficacy and safety of a novel vaccine is being assessed for the first time, societies, ethics committees, and parents accept this course of action on the grounds that although the vaccinated infant cannot derive any benefit from participating in the trial, other infants might do so in the future. However, the situation becomes more complex when investigators wish to test a new vaccine against a placebo when a safe and effective vaccine already exists. Is this practice ever acceptable? This difficult issue has been reviewed by an Expert Panel convened by WHO\'s Department of Ethics and Social Determinants, who presented their conclusions in a WHO report and in a paper in Vaccine.
Authors
Languages
- English
Journal
The Lancet logo
Volume
9935
Type
Journal article
Categories
- Vaccines & delivery devices
Tags
- Vaccine trials
