Current approaches in Lyssavirus Vaccine Development and Future Challenges
Xianfu Wu, Rongliang Hu, and Todd G. Smith
from: Rhabdoviruses: Molecular Taxonomy, Evolution, Genomics, Ecology, Host-Vector Interactions, Cytopathology and Control (Edited by: Ralf G. Dietzgen and Ivan V. Kuzmin). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2012)
Abstract
Current approaches to human rabies vaccine are focused on delivering safe, potent vaccine to exposed people in as few, cost-effective doses as possible. Given the current paradigm of inactivated rabies vaccines for humans, using more attenuated rabies virus seeds combined with industrialized cell fermentation could be one way to decrease manufacturing costs. Plasmid-based DNA vaccines, protein-based vaccines including virus-like particles and transgenic plants, and recombinant vaccines including rabies virus-vectored and other DNA or RNA virus-vectored recombinants, all comprise possible future rabies vaccine development pathways. For animals, a wider diversity of vaccines has been developed in the past and can be developed in the future including live attenuated, oral, and recombinant rabies vaccines. The main challenges in rabies control and prevention are not only in vaccine development but also in vaccine application especially in interrupting canine rabies transmission in dogs. New, more effective, strategies are needed to make human rabies vaccines more affordable and to simplify vaccine regimens. Improved strategies to vaccinate and humanely manage free-roaming dog populations can be implemented in the future. Finally, developing new rabies biologics to prevent emerging Lyssavirus infections is necessary but challenging due to the lack of incentive and applicable strategies in the field read more ...
