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Wednesday, January 11, 2023
NIH experts offer perspective on next-generation approaches.
What
Vaccines that provide long-lasting protection against influenza, coronaviruses, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) have proven exceptionally difficult to develop. In a new review article in Cell Host & Microbe, researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, explore the challenges and outline approaches to improving vaccines. Anthony S. Fauci, MD, former NIAID Director, is a joint author with Jeffery K. Taubenberger, MD, Ph.D., and David M. Morens, MD
Unlike the respiratory viruses that cause measles, mumps, and rubella, for which vaccination or recovery from illness provides decades of protection against future infections, the influenza coronaviruses, RSV, SARS-CoV- 2 and the “common cold” share several characteristics that allow them to cause repeated reinfections. These include very short incubation periods, rapid host-to-host transmission, and replication in the nasal mucosa rather than throughout the body. This last feature, non-systemic replication, means that these viruses do not stimulate the full force of the adaptive immune response, which normally takes a week or more to develop.
A next generation of improved vaccines for viruses that replicate in the mucosa will require advances in understanding on several fronts, say the authors. For example, more needs to be learned about the interactions between influenza viruses, coronaviruses, and RSV and the components of the immune response that operate largely or exclusively in the upper respiratory system. Over time, these interactions have evolved into “immune tolerance,” in which the human host tolerates limited, transient infections by viruses that are usually non-lethal to avoid the destructive consequences of an all-out attack. to the immune system.
The authors note that mucosal immunization appears to be an optimal route of vaccination for the viruses of interest, when feasible. However, to develop useful mucosal vaccines, important knowledge gaps must be filled, including the search for ideal vaccine formulations; determine dose size, frequency, and timing; and the development of techniques to overcome immunological tolerance.
The NIAID authors urge their fellow researchers to “think outside the box” to move toward vaccines that can provide long-lasting protection against these high-impact public health viruses. They conclude: “We are excited and energized that many researchers…are rethinking, from the ground up, all of our previous assumptions and approaches to preventing major respiratory viral illnesses and working to find bold new pathways.”
Article
DM Morens et al. Rethinking next-generation vaccines for coronaviruses, influenza viruses, and other respiratory viruses. Host Cell and Microbe DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2022.11.016 (2023).
Who
Coauthors Dr. Jeffery K. Taubenberger, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, NIAID, and Dr. David M. Morens, Office of the Director, NIAID, are available to review your article.
Contact
To schedule interviews, contact Anne A. Oplinger, (301) 402-1663, [email protected].
NIAID conducts and supports research, at the NIH, in the United States, and around the world, to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat these diseases. Press releases, fact sheets, and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID website.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):
NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 institutes and centers and is a component of the US Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the lead Federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research , and is researching the causes, treatments, and cures for common and rare diseases. For more information about the NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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Source: news.google.com