A Zika virus vaccine is designed to prevent the symptoms and complications of Zika virus infection in humans. As Zika virus infection of pregnant women may result in congenital defects in the newborn, the vaccine will attempt to protect against congenital Zika syndrome during the current or any future outbreak. [1] As of April 2019, no vaccines have been approved for clinical use, however a number of vaccines are currently in clinical trials. [2] [3] [4] The goal of a Zika virus vaccine is to produce specific antibodies against the Zika virus to prevent infection and severe disease. The challenges in developing a safe and effective vaccine include limiting side effects such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a potential consequence of Zika virus infection. Additionally, as dengue virus is closely related to Zika virus, the vaccine needs to minimize the possibility of antibody-dependent enhancement of dengue virus infection. [5] [6] [7] [8]
As of March 31, 2017 a DNA vaccine has been approved for Phase 2 clinical trials in humans. [9] The vaccine consists of a DNA plasmid encoding the E and PrM proteins which make up the outer protein coat of the Zika virus virion. [10] Based on a previous platform used to develop a West Nile virus vaccine, the DNA vaccine is designed to assemble protein particles that mimic Zika virus and trigger the body's immune response.[ citation needed ]
A purified inactivated vaccine is currently under development by the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. [11] [12] This vaccine is based on the same technology used to develop a vaccine against Japanese Encephalitis Virus. As the ZPIV vaccine contains inactivated Zika particles, the virus cannot replicate and cause disease in humans. U.S. Army researchers agreed to give Sanofi permission to develop the technology, but protest in Congress halted the venture. Initial results at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and at other hospitals involved in the early clinical trials were considered to be promising. [13] [14]
A live attenuated vaccine, in which the virus is genetically altered as to not cause disease in humans, is undergoing phase 1 clinical trials. This vaccine is based on the dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, which has been approved for use in humans. [15]
A modified mRNA vaccine developed in collaboration with Moderna Therapeutics containing the E and PrM proteins is undergoing concurrent phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. [16] [17]
Multiple vaccines are also being developed using safe, non-pathogenic, viruses as vectors for immunogenic Zika virus proteins. One phase 1 trial is using the Measles virus as a vector and was completed in April 2018. [18] Another vaccine platform makes use of Adenovirus as a vector and phase 1 studies will be complete in 2019. [19] Adenoviruses have been previously used as a vaccine platform for HIV and elicit a strong immune response. [20] A chimeric Binjari-Zika vaccine is highly effective for immunization in mice. [21]
Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin itching and skin rash. Recovery generally takes two to seven days. In a small proportion of cases, the disease develops into a more severe dengue hemorrhagic fever, resulting in bleeding, low levels of blood platelets and blood plasma leakage, or into dengue shock syndrome, where dangerously low blood pressure occurs.
H5N1 clinical trials are clinical trials concerning H5N1 vaccines, which are intended to provide immunization to influenza A virus subtype H5N1. They are intended to discover pharmacological effects and identify any adverse reactions the vaccines may achieve in humans.
Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE), sometimes less precisely called immune enhancement or disease enhancement, is a phenomenon in which binding of a virus to suboptimal antibodies enhances its entry into host cells, followed by its replication. The suboptimal antibodies can result from natural infection or from vaccination. ADE may cause enhanced respiratory disease, but is not limited to respiratory disease. It has been observed in HIV, RSV virus and Dengue virus and is monitored for in vaccine development.
GeoVax is a clinical-stage biotechnology company which develops vaccines. GeoVax’s development platform uses Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vector technology, with improvements to antigen design and manufacturing capabilities. GeoVax uses recombinant DNA or recombinant viruses to produce virus-like particles (VLPs) in the person being vaccinated.
The Vaccine Research Center (VRC), is an intramural division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The mission of the VRC is to discover and develop both vaccines and antibody-based products that target infectious diseases.
Mosquito-borne diseases or mosquito-borne illnesses are diseases caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites transmitted by mosquitoes. Nearly 700 million people get a mosquito-borne illness each year resulting in over 725,000 deaths.
As of 2021, a vaccine against Epstein–Barr virus was not yet available. The virus establishes latent infection and causes infectious mononucleosis. There is also increasingly more evidence that EBV may be a trigger of multiple sclerosis. It is a dual-tropic virus, meaning that it infects two different host cell types — in this case, both B cells and epithelial cells. One challenge is that the Epstein–Barr virus expresses very different proteins during its lytic and its latent phases. Antiviral agents act by inhibiting viral DNA replication, but as of 2016, there was little evidence that they are effective against Epstein–Barr virus, they are expensive, they risk causing resistance to antiviral agents, and can cause unpleasant side effects.
The United States Military HIV Research Program was initiated by the United States Congress in 1986, in reaction to the threat of lost effectiveness of U.S./Allied troops due to HIV infection. The mission of MHRP is to develop an HIV-1 vaccine, provide prevention, care, and treatment, and conduct meaningful HIV/AIDS research for the global community through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). It is centered at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and has established five international research sites in Africa and Asia. MHRP also partners with the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS) in Thailand. MHRP works closely with The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF), most notably in the development of the RV144 HIV vaccine in Thailand. MHRP is the largest research program supported by the HJF.
Zika virus is a member of the virus family Flaviviridae. It is spread by daytime-active Aedes mosquitoes, such as A. aegypti and A. albopictus. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where the virus was first isolated in 1947. Zika virus shares a genus with the dengue, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile viruses. Since the 1950s, it has been known to occur within a narrow equatorial belt from Africa to Asia. From 2007 to 2016, the virus spread eastward, across the Pacific Ocean to the Americas, leading to the 2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic.
Dengue vaccine is a vaccine used to prevent dengue fever in humans. Development of dengue vaccines began in the 1920s, but was hindered by the need to create immunity against all four dengue serotypes.
A universal flu vaccine is a flu vaccine that is effective against all influenza strains regardless of the virus sub type, antigenic drift or antigenic shift. Hence it should not require modification from year to year. As of 2021 no universal flu vaccine had been approved for general use, several were in development, and one was in clinical trial.
Nelson L. Michael is an American infectious disease researcher. He has served for nearly 30 years in the United States Army and been directly involved with significant advancements in understanding the pathology of and vaccine development for diseases like HIV, Zika, Ebola and more. Much of his career has been spent at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research.
Kizzmekia "Kizzy" Shanta Corbett is an American viral immunologist. She is an Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Shutzer Assistant Professor at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute since June 2021.
Science diplomacy is the collaborative efforts by local and global entities to solve global issues using science and technology as a base. In science diplomacy, collaboration takes place to advance science but science can also be used to facilitate diplomatic relations. This allows even conflicting nations to come together through science to find solutions to global issues. Global organizations, researchers, public health officials, countries, government officials, and clinicians have previously worked together to create effective measures of infection control and subsequent treatment. They continue to do so through sharing of resources, research data, ideas, and by putting into effect laws and regulations that can further advance scientific research. Without the collaborative efforts of such entities, the world would not have the vaccines and treatments we now possess for diseases that were once considered deadly such as tuberculosis, tetanus, polio, influenza, etc. Historically, science diplomacy has proved successful in diseases such as SARS, Ebola, Zika and continues to be relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic today.
Hilary D. Marston is an American physician-scientist and global health policy advisor specializing in pandemic preparedness. She is a medical officer at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
The Sinopharm WIBP COVID-19 vaccine, also known as WIBP-CorV, is one of two inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinopharm. Peer-reviewed results show that the vaccine is 72.8% effective against symptomatic cases and 100% against severe cases. The other inactivated virus COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm is the BIBP vaccine (BBIBP-CorV) which is comparably more successful. 1 billion doses are expected to be produced per year.
UB-612 is a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by United Biomedical, Inc. Asia, and Vaxxinity, Inc. It is a peptide vaccine.
A viral vector vaccine is a vaccine that uses a viral vector to deliver genetic material (DNA), which can be transcribed by the recipient's host cells as mRNA coding for a desired protein to elicit an immune response. As of April 2021, six viral vector vaccines have been authorized for use in humans in at least one country: four COVID-19 vaccines and two Ebola vaccines.
V-01 is a protein subunit COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by a subsidiary of Livzon Pharmaceutical Group Inc.
John R. Mascola is an American physician-scientist, immunologist and infectious disease specialist. He was the director of the Vaccine Research Center (VRC), part of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also served as a principal advisor to Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID, on vaccines and biomedical research affairs.