CH 35: Antiviral Vaccines

Vaccines
 Latin vacca (cow)  cowpox virus
 most effective means available for prevention of viral
infections
 Modern vaccine production
o Virus production in cultured cells or embryonated
eggs.
o Sophisticated virus purification and detection
methods.
o Genetic engineering to modulate virus
pathogenicity, infectivity, or immunogenicity.
o Production of viral proteins in bacteria, yeast, or
eukaryotic cell expression systems.
o Production of viruses, virus-like particles, or viral
proteins in plants.
 Dgsrgrhrd

Zoonotic (animal-borne) virus infection – relatively little

impact on human civilization due to their local distribution
and their low capacity to spread from person to person
 Rabies virus encephalitis or Ebola virus hemorrhagic
fever
Widespread virus epidemics – spread directly from person
to person and are highly contagious. Limited only by
population size and the speed of transportation. Relatively TYPES OF ANTIVIRAL VACCINE
short (7-10 days) incubation period. I. Live wild-type viruses
 Infected travellers on foot, hoof and boar were either  Simplest vaccines to make and are among the
dead or immune by reaching the next city most effective
 Middle Age brought about population growth hence  Virus that infected one animal species is used to
allowed to maintain a foci of these disease infect another species to protect against a closely
 Sailing boats resulted in faster transfer of infected related pathogen
people  Since adapted to natural host, may replicate poorly
 Middle of thirteen century to recent times, slowed and have limited or no pathogenic effects in
population that is reversed by viral diseases related pathogen
 1300-1700 AD, 50% of Europe died of viral agents
 May share immunogenic determinants with target
 Chinese physicians attempted active immunization
virus, hence effective immune response against
using dried scabs, soiled undergarments, &
that virus
powdered fleas fed on scabs againt smallpox in the
 Vaccinia virus – only such viral vaccine licensed for
1600s
human use, & its present form no longer used due
 In the Middle East, children were intentionally
to smallpox eradication
inoculated with fully virulent organisms at
II. Live attenuated viruses
inconspicuous places on the body
III. Inactivated viruses
 Credit for vaccine to Edward Jenner & colleagues
IV. Subunit viruses
during 1700s
NEW CATEGORIES OF VACCINES
1. Chimeric vaccines
2. DNA vaccines
3. Virus-like particle (VLP)
 Includes “nanoparticles” bearing viral antigens
that can be produced using a wide range of
technologies

4. Multivalent peptide vaccines
 Peptide epitopes being developed for problems
associated with highly mutable RNA viruses such
as HIV and hepatitis C virus