Researchers have developed a vaccine candidate against Lassa virus that completely protected guinea pigs exposed to a lethal dose. Lassa virus causes Lassa fever, a serious illness with no approved vaccine or cure. The vaccine works by using a live but weakened version of the virus, which can provide longer-lasting and broader protection.
A vaccine candidate against Lassa virus completely protected guinea pigs exposed to an otherwise lethal dose of the virus, researchers from Texas Biomedical Research Institute , The Scripps Research Institute and The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recently reported inLassa virus, which has no approved vaccine and no cure, causes tens to hundreds of thousands of cases of Lassa fever annually.
"A live-attenuated vaccine can offer longer-lasting and broader protection because now your body's immune system is being trained to recognize the entire virus -- not just one small piece of it," Dr. Martínez-Sobrido said. Specifically, Dr. Martínez-Sobrido and his team used a technique called codon deoptimization to edit the RNA in the small segment to turn down production of a key protein responsible for binding the virus to infected cells. Meanwhile, Dr. de la Torre and his team replaced part of the large segment RNA with the corresponding part from the small segment.
Lassa Fever Vaccine Immunization Public Health Virology
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