The trio of deadly coronaviruses
The American VBI Vaccines has just launched a first trial, thanks to a grant from the Government of Canada. Its vaccine combines proteins from MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, three viruses that are deadly for a significant portion of infected people. The first two have already killed around 1,000 each, while the third (which causes COVID-19) has killed more than 2.6 million people.
COVID, again
An intranasal vaccine would be easier to give than an injectable. By acting where SARS-CoV-2 attacks first, it might also be more effective. Trials of at least four intranasal vaccines began in early 2021.
Respiratory syncytial virus
This virus causes bronchiolitis, which sends many babies to the hospital, but does not provide natural immunity. The vaccines under development are intended for infants or pregnant women, who would protect their child with their antibodies. Pfizer and GSK plan to complete testing in 2023, but Novavax failed in 2019.
Lyme disease
This bacterial disease transmitted by ticks strikes tens of thousands of people each year, including 2,700 in Canada in 2019. A first vaccine was withdrawn from the market in 2002, a rumor having led to believe, wrongly, that it caused autoimmune diseases. Pfizer and Valneva are in the final stages of testing a new vaccine.
Dengue
This tropical mosquito-borne disease causes flu-like symptoms in nearly 100 million people a year and can be fatal. However, the only vaccine that exists is reserved for adults who have already had the disease, because it can make others more likely to catch it. But the Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda completed trials of a new vaccine for everyone in 2020.
Cytomegalovirus
Almost everyone contracts this virus without showing any symptoms. But if a pregnant woman is infected, her baby may be born deaf. This virus also causes nearly a third of cases of deafness. Moderna will soon begin the last phase of testing an RNA vaccine, which could be authorized within a few years.
Lassa fever
This disease with high epidemic potential strikes half a million people in Africa annually and kills 30% of pregnant women who are affected. A first vaccine has just started to be tested, in Ghana.
The It’s hard
This nosocomial bacterium causes diarrhea which is sometimes fatal in the elderly. A first vaccine could be approved this year if the last phase of the trials conducted by Pfizer is successful.
The chikungunya
The French Valneva will soon complete the trials of a first vaccine against this disease spread by mosquitoes in hot regions. In the Americas alone, three million cases of this infection, which can leave it invalid, were reported in 2020.
HIV
A viral vector vaccine combining antigens from several strains was tested on 2,600 people by Johnson & Johnson in 2020. Nearly 130 vaccines from other laboratories are being tested on a smaller scale.
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