It might also make sense to outline the possible benefits of anybody participating - if you're in the active group, you will likely have (limited?) protection against CMV. Possibly avoiding some of the nasty long-term ramifications of CMV.
And if you participate in the trial, and would want to selfishly unblind yourself, you could test your blood for signs of elevated immune markers, e.g. C-reactive protein and IL-6 before and after each vaccination. (Presumably those would rise after most vaccinations, one study on influenza: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25795257/)
To encourage vaccine trial participation and to lower the barrier, a link to the trial would be helpful at the end of the post. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05085366
It might also make sense to outline the possible benefits of anybody participating - if you're in the active group, you will likely have (limited?) protection against CMV. Possibly avoiding some of the nasty long-term ramifications of CMV.
Thanks, I added the link again at the end.
And if you participate in the trial, and would want to selfishly unblind yourself, you could test your blood for signs of elevated immune markers, e.g. C-reactive protein and IL-6 before and after each vaccination. (Presumably those would rise after most vaccinations, one study on influenza: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25795257/)
CMV IgG would be a better thing to measure, I think.
Love this series, thanks so much for writing it, your love of learning really comes across.
Thanks!