Booster vaccination with an investigational Lyme disease vaccine in children, adolescents, and adults: a plain language summary

Plain Language SummaryWhat is this summary about?This summary describes an article that was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The article is about a study that looked at whether annual booster vaccinations with VLA15, a vaccine candidate being developed but not yet approved to provide protection against Lyme disease, were well tolerated and could raise antibody levels in children, adolescents, and adults before the next tick season. Study participants first received VLA15 on a Month 0-2-6 schedule or a Month 0-6 schedule or received placebo. At Month 18, study participants in both VLA15 study groups received a first annual VLA15 booster vaccination, and study participants in the placebo study group received another placebo injection. Throughout the study, the staff and study participants did not know to which study group each study participant was assigned.What were the study results?VLA15 vaccinations were well tolerated and led to raised antibody levels, providing strong antibody responses across all age groups. Antibody levels were higher after the Month 18 booster vaccination than after initial vaccination. The percentages of study participants with reactions to the Month 18 booster vaccination were similar to those after the initial VLA15 vaccinations.There were no safety concerns.What do the study results mean?VLA15 booster vaccination after an initial 2 or 3 vaccinations appears to be a safe strategy for raising antibody levels in children, adolescents, and adults before the next tick season. These findings should be considered when deciding vaccination schedules if VLA15 is approved as a vaccine against Lyme disease.