Free holiday is offered to volunteers willing to test diarrhoea vaccine

The Austrian drug company Intercell AG is offering free holidays in Mexico and Guatemala to 1800 volunteers willing to take part in a phase III clinical trial of the company’s vaccine against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, a major cause of traveller’s diarrhoea.

The company’s study is grabbing headlines partly because of the offer and partly because of its use of social media such as Twitter and YouTube to recruit volunteers (http://twitter.com/trekstudy and www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYqkbXdsl-c).

Intercell is offering healthy adults aged 18 to 64 free flights from Europe, three star accommodation, and, on completion of …