Time of Day Vaccination Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Determining the potential universal applicability of a diurnal response to vaccination and the associated circadian immune processes
IRAS ID
235222
Contact name
Alex Richter
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Birmingham
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Vaccination programmes are a key pillar of public health strategy. Public Health England publish the Green Book that guides the NHS for vaccination programmes in children and adults. This recommends an annual influenza vaccination and a one off pneumococcal or pneumonia vaccine in older adults and at risk adults with a number of underlying diseases such as HIV, blood cancer and chronic kidney disease. It is known that these groups of patients respond less well to vaccination than healthy younger adults and advice on these vaccines is reviewed regularly to ensure the best strategy is employed to maximise effectiveness. One cost effective option would be to simply fix the time of day that vaccines are given at. A previous MRC funded study found that administering influenza vaccination in the morning was more effective than the afternoon. There is a significant body of work that shows that the immune system follows a daily rhythm and so this vaccination observation is not in isolation. It is not known whether this is true for older adults and adults at risk of infection or for different vaccines.
This study aims to determine whether the time of day that an individual is vaccinated at makes a difference to vaccine effectiveness. Patients and healthy older adults will be vaccinated with the recommended vaccinations against pneumonia and influenza. Samples will also be taken to understand the science behind this.
REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/WM/0426
Date of REC Opinion
20 Feb 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion