The article reviews the history, present status and the future of BT vaccines in Europe. So far, an attenuated (modified live viruses, MLV) and inactivated virus vaccines against BT were developed and used in the field. Moreover, the virus-like particles (VLPs) produced from recombinant baculovirus, and live recombinant vaccinia or canarypox virus-vectored vaccines were tested in the laboratory...

While effective preventive vaccines induce intended protective immunity, they also induce unintended adverse events (AEs). Generally speaking, compared to killed, inactivated vaccines and protein vaccines, live attenuated vaccines induce more protective immune responses. However, live attenuated vaccines are also associated with more AEs and even more serious AEs. For example, while live attenu...

Several approaches have been developed to improve or replace the only available vaccine for tuberculosis (TB), BCG (Bacille Calmette Guerin). The development of subunit protein vaccines is a promising strategy because it combines specificity and safety. In addition, subunit protein vaccines can be designed to have selected immune epitopes associated with immunomodulating components to drive the...

Three great plague pandemics caused by the gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis have killed nearly 200 million people and it has been linked to biowarfare in the past. Plague is endemic in many parts of the world. In addition, the risk of plague as a bioweapon has prompted increased research to develop plague vaccines against this disease. Injectable subunit vaccines are being developed in t...

Immunity assays in guinea-pigs based on spleen mass: body mass ratios showed that live vaccines were markedly more effective than inactivated oil adjuvant vaccines in providing protection against challenge with 5 000 virulent organisms.

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are integrated as DNA proviruses in the genomes of all mammalian species. Several ERVs are replication-competent and produced as fully infectious viruses from host cell. Thus, live-attenuated vaccines and biological substances have been prepared using the cell lines which may produce ERV. Indeed, we recently reported that several commercial live-attenuated vaccine...

Leishmaniasis is a vector-born protozoan disease. Approximately 12 million individuals are affected worldwide with an estimated annual incidence of 1.5-2 million. Two clinical manifestations are recognized, cutaneous, and visceral, both of which are common in the Middle East. In both forms, infection is chronic, with potential deformities, persistence following cure, and lifelong risk of reacti...

The search for ideal brucellosis vaccines remains active today. Currently, no licensed human or canine anti-brucellosis vaccines are available. In bovines, the most successful vaccine (S19) is only used in calves, as adult vaccination results in orchitis in male, prolonged infection, and possible abortion complications in pregnant female cattle. Another widely deployed vaccine (RB51) has a low ...

Our group has spearheaded research into the ‘non-specific effects’ of vaccines in West Africa. Many observational studies and lately randomized trials have shown that BCG lowers all-cause mortality, particularly from septicaemia and respiratory infections. These beneficial non-specific effects are seen as long as BCG is the most recent vaccine. For this reason, a WHO-commissioned review of the ...