Test a vax, fly to Mexico

Want to go to Central America for free? All it takes is your participation in a linkurl:clinical trial for a diarrhea vaccine.;http://www.trekstudy.com/europe/index.html A patch worn on the arm can earn you a complimentary trip to one of nine cities in Mexico and Guatemala, courtesy of linkurl:Intercell AG.;http://www.intercell.com/main/

Image: Wikimedia commons, Andrew Hitchcock

The Austrian drug company is recruiting 1800 volunteers for the phase III clinical trial of a vaccine against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli -- a major cause of traveler's diarrhea, which affects about 20 million visitors to countries such as Africa, Asia and Latin America, as well as illness in more than 200 million children living in those countries each year. If approved, it would be the first vaccine for traveler's diarrhea available in the US. A couple years ago, we looked at the question of linkurl:how researchers and companies decide on compensation;http://www.the-scientist.com/2008/2/1/38/1/ for subjects' participation in clinical trials. But...