Vaccine News

The MedAfrica Times recently reported that the Republic of Brazil donated 80 thousand vaccines against HPV and yellow fever to Cabo Verde.

The Cape Verdean Ministry of Health announced on June 27, 2023, 50 thousand doses of HPV and 30 thousand doses of yellow fever arrived in Praia.

"The yellow fever vaccine is used to prevent yellow fever, a disease caused by an arbovirus. It is recommended for prevention in endemic areas or for travelers", said this article.

The U.S. CDC recently wrote that no (health) notices are currently in effect for Cape Verde.

However, the CDC suggests prospective visitors to Cape Verde speak with a healthcare provider regarding travel vaccinations, such as yellow fever and medicines.

Located 900 miles south of the Canary Islands and 350 miles from the African mainland, Cape Verde's nine inhabited islands offer vacationers many relaxing options.

Cabo Verde has witnessed significant economic progress since 1990, driven in large part by the rapid development of tourism (25% of GDP).

And remember to pack essential health supplies in case of travel delays, says the CDC.

While most of the media attention has been focused on the state of Florida's recent malaria outbreak (4) on its west coast, another mosquito-transmitted disease continues its multi-year impact on Florida's southeastern coast.

As of June 24, 2023, Florida Weekly Arbovirus Report revealed another 18 travel-associated dengue cases had been confirmed.

This data increased Florida's dengue outbreak to 100 cases in 2023, led by Miami-Dade (64) and Broward (8) countries.

These dengue-infected travelers primarily originated in Brazil and Cuba.

Furthermore, 2 cases of locally acquired dengue have been reported this year.

In 2022, 903 travel-associated and 68 locally-acquired dengue cases were reported in Florida.

To notify residents and visitors, the Florida Department of Health issued a statewide mosquito-borne illness advisory on June 26, 2023.

Furthermore, Florida continues to conduct statewide surveillance for mosquito-borne illnesses, including West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis, St. Louis encephalitis, and chikungunya. 

The Department confirmed aerial and ground mosquito spraying continues in these areas to mitigate the risk of further virus transmission.

There are approved vaccines for both dengue and malaria, but access is limited in the U.S. 

As of June 28, 2023, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor the U.K. Foreign Office have issued travel advice when visiting Florida.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today republished an expanded global polio outbreak Travel Health Notice.

On June 26, 2023, the CDC identified thirty destinations with circulating poliovirus.

And, before travel to any destination listed, adults who previously completed the full, routine polio vaccine series may receive a single, lifetime booster dose of a polio vaccine.

In the U.S., the IPV vaccine has been offered since 2000. Oral polio vaccines are provided in various countries in 2023.

For example, the new nOPV2 vaccine has been administered over 620 million times in recent years.

The CDC says polio is a crippling and potentially deadly disease that affects the nervous system.

Because the virus that causes polio lives in the feces of an infected person, people infected with the disease can spread it to others when they do not wash their hands well after defecating.

People can also be infected if they drink water or eat food contaminated with infected feces.

Most people with polio do not feel sick. Some people have only minor symptoms, such as fever, tiredness, nausea, headache, nasal congestion, sore throat, cough, stiffness in the neck and back, and pain in the arms and legs.

In rare cases, polio infection causes permanent loss of muscle function. Polio can be fatal if the muscles used for breathing are paralyzed or if there is an infection of the brain, says the CDC.

IAVI announced today that the initial participants had been vaccinated with a Sudan virus (SUDV) vaccine candidate in a first-in-human Phase I clinical trial in the U.S.

As of June 27, 2023, the IAVI C108 IAVI-sponsored trial is funded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

IAVI C108 will occur at two U.S.-based clinical trial sites, where the vaccine candidate will be administered intramuscularly at three dosage levels. 

This is essential news since there are no SUDV vaccines available.

Furthermore, like the Zaire Ebolavirus (ZEBOV), SUDV is responsible for recurring viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks across sub-Saharan Africa.

In past Ebola outbreaks, the estimated case fatality ratios of SUDV disease have varied from 41% to 100%.

This study evaluates the safety and immunogenicity of an investigational SUDV vaccine candidate previously donated to IAVI by Merck. This investigational SUDV vaccine candidate was produced for IAVI from an existing investigational bulk drug substance previously manufactured by Merck.

IAVI is responsible for all aspects of the candidate’s future development, including demonstrating equivalence between this SUDV vaccine candidate and IAVI’s other SUDV vaccine candidate, which utilizes the same viral vector but is manufactured using a new production platform.

The SUDV vaccine candidate being evaluated in IAVI C108 uses the same recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) viral vector platform as ERVEBO®, Merck’s single-dose ZEBOV vaccine, which is licensed in the U.S., U.K., European Union, Canada, Switzerland, and 10 African countries.

“IAVI C108 represents an important first step toward generating the data needed for eventual licensure of an rVSV-SUDV vaccine. The development and licensure of ERVEBO® have resulted in an important tool in Ebola Zaire outbreak responses. If proven effective, we’re hopeful that a vaccine candidate built on the same viral platform will be similarly important in future SUDV outbreaks,” said Swati Gupta, Ph.D., vice president and head of emerging infectious diseases and epidemiology at IAVI, in a related press release.

The rVSV platform has been used extensively in adults and children. The underlying vesicular stomatitis virus is a common animal virus that does not cause serious illness in humans and has been investigated extensively as a vaccine vector.

In the vaccine platform, it is engineered to encode a surface protein from a target pathogen, in this case, SUDV, to prompt the body to mount an immune response.

Much of the research and development on IAVI’s rVSV platform is performed at the IAVI Vaccine Design and Development Lab in Brooklyn, New York.

Sanofi - Aventis Groupe today announced positive topline Phase 2b clinical data in atopic dermatitis support amlitelimab as a potential first and best-in-class novel investigational anti-OX40-ligand monoclonal antibody.

The primary endpoint was met in the Phase 2b study (STREAM-AD) of amlitelimab in adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis whose disease cannot be adequately controlled with topical medications or for whom topical medications are not a recommended treatment approach.

Amlitelimab is a fully human non-depleting monoclonal antibody that binds to OX40-Ligand, a key immune regulator.

It can be a first-in-class treatment for various immune-mediated diseases and inflammatory disorders, including moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis and asthma.

By targeting OX40-Ligand, amlitelimab aims to restore immune homeostasis between pro-inflammatory and regulatory T cells.

Naimish Patel, M.D., Head of Global Development, Immunology and Inflammation, Sanofi, commented in a press release on June 27, 2023, "While we have made significant strides in the treatment of atopic dermatitis, there are patients who are still in need of new options."

"We believe that the results from this Phase 2b study with amlitelimab support our perspective that targeting OX40-Ligand has the potential to provide a first and best-in-class treatment option that addresses type 2 and non-type 2 inflammation to meet the individual needs of people living with atopic dermatitis and other chronic inflammatory diseases."

"We look forward to advancing into a larger Phase 3 clinical development program and continuing to drive momentum in our Immunology pipeline to deliver first or best-in-class treatments."

In this dose-ranging study, treatment with amlitelimab resulted in statistically significant improvements in average Eczema Area and Severity Index score from baseline at 16 weeks compared to placebo for all four subcutaneous doses that were studied.

There were also improvements in key secondary outcome measures, and continued improvements were observed through week 24 in primary and key secondary outcomes.

Biomarker results support an effect on both type 2 and non-type 2 pathways.

Amlitelimab was well-tolerated in the study across all dose arms, and no new safety concerns were identified.

Furthermore, Amlitelimab is under clinical investigation, and its safety and efficacy have not been evaluated by any regulatory authority.

The U.S. NIH says atopic dermatitis, often referred to as eczema, is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that causes inflammation, redness, and irritation of the skin. It is a common condition that usually begins in childhood.

However, anyone can get the disease at any age.

And atopic dermatitis is not contagious, so it cannot be spread from person to person.

The journal Nature Communications recently published an article that concluded interim data from 2 parts of the phase 1/2 clinical trial support the continued development of mRNA-1010.

The mRNA-1010 vaccine candidate elicited either higher or comparable immune responses to a standard-dose, influenza quadrivalent inactivated vaccine. 

Overall, these first-in-human safety and immunogenicity findings highlight, on June 19, 2023, the potential of the mRNA platform to improve the effectiveness of influenza vaccines.

Vaccines using mRNA technology are readily amenable to antigenic drift and shift in influenza strains, allowing for rapid deployment of vaccines. In addition, mRNA-based platforms allow for the expression of multiple antigens, raising the possibility for an increased breadth of protective responses against seasonal influenza or multiple respiratory diseases.

However, approved cell-based influenza vaccines, such as Flucelvax® Quadrivalent (QIVc), currently produce an exact antigenic match for circulating flu trains.

Further, based on findings with mRNA-1273, an mRNA-based vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, mRNA vaccines may also induce strong cellular immune responses and prolonged germinal center reactions that can improve protection in older adults, a population at particular risk for infection and severe outcomes. 

While mRNA-1010 had an acceptable safety profile in this trial, transient solicited adverse reactions were more common after mRNA-1010 than with the active comparator.

Additional clinical trials are ongoing to assess further this vaccine candidate's safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity and a licensed influenza vaccine comparator (NCT05566639 and NCT05415462).

Moderna, Inc. was involved in the study design, data collection and analysis, and the writing of this manuscript. Moderna funded this study.