5 Vaccines to look forward to in 2017 and beyond

Prevention in better than cure. Holding the age old words true, doctors stress on prevention of diseases through various ways. One of the major and the simplest ways is through vaccination which is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular disease.

So here are some major vaccinations which the medical fraternity is waiting for in the year 2017





Dengue Vaccine

Dengue is a dangerous debilitating disease that occasionally kills people and has no known cure or treatment. Every year, the Indian subcontinent witnesses the epidemic of Dengue. A landmark 2014 study by the government’s National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW), New Delhi, found that India could have had “an annual average of 5,778,406 clinically diagnosed dengue cases, or 282 times the reported number per year” between 2006-2012.

Recently, Sanofi-Pasteur — a unit of French pharmaceutical company Sanofi — that manufactures the only approved vaccine for dengue named as Dengvaxia said that the vaccines has received approval in 14 countries. Hopefully, it will also get approval for India, equipping the medical fraternity to fight the mosquito-borne tropical disease.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: Worlds first dengue vaccine approved in 11 countries

Read more at Medical Dialogues: India’s struggle to introduce dengue vaccines





Chikungunya Vaccine

Chikungunya, a mosquito-borne viral disease is characterized by fever and severe joint pain, often in hands and feet, and may include headache, muscle pain, joint swelling, or rash. Some patients will feel better within a week but many develop longer-term joint pain that can last up to years. Death is rare but can occur. India has already had more than 14,656 suspected cases of Chikungunya in 2016, roughly half the total number in 2015, according to India’s National Vector Borne Diseases Control Program.

Researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have developed the first vaccine for chikungunya fever made from an insect-specific virus that doesn't have any effect on people, making the vaccine safe and effective.

Read more : Breakthrough: First chikungunya vaccine developed





HIV

The first HIV vaccine efficacy study in seven years has begun in South Africa to test whether a modified vaccine candidate can provide effective protection against the AIDS virus, the US National Institutes of Health said. The experimental vaccine regimen being tested in HVTN 702 is based on the one investigated in the RV144 clinical trial in Thailand that was found to be 31.2 per cent effective at preventing HIV infection over the 3.5-year follow-up after vaccination.
The new trial, to be conducted at 15 sites across South Africa, where more than 1,000 people become infected with HIV every day, aims to test whether it will provide greater and more sustained protection than the RV144 regimen.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: HIV vaccine efficacy study begins in South Africa





Zika vaccine

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a public health emergency for Zika virus. The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites. In most cases, there are no symptoms. In a few cases, Zika can trigger paralysis (Guillain-Barré Syndrome). In pregnant women, it may cause subsequent birth defects.The most common symptoms of Zika virus disease are fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. There's no vaccine or specific treatment for the disease as of now.

A US military lab began the first of five early stage clinical trials to test the safety and ability of an investigational Zika purified inactivated vaccine.The study is expected to be completed by fall of 2018. The vaccine in the trial contains whole Zika virus particles that have been inactivated, meaning that the virus cannot replicate and cause disease in humans.

Read more at Medical Dialogues: US begins testing of inactivated Zika vaccine in humans





 

 

 

Malaria vaccine

According to the World Malaria Report 2015, more than 80% of the global P. vivax burden is contributed by 3 countries including India.

The research vaccine against P. falciparum, known as RTS, S/AS01 was evaluated in a large clinical trial in 7 countries in Africa and received a positive opinion by the European Medicines Agency in July 2015.

In October 2015, 2 WHO advisory groups recommended pilot implementations of RTS, S/AS01 in a limited number of African countries. WHO adopted these recommendations and is strongly supportive of the need to proceed with these pilots as the next step for the world’s first malaria vaccine.

In November 2016, WHO announced that the RTS , S vaccine will be rolled out in pilot projects in 3 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Funding is now secured for the initial phase of the programme and vaccinations are due to begin in 2018. These pilot projects could pave the way for wider deployment of the vaccine if safety and effectiveness are considered acceptable.

Read more at Medical Dialogues:

Early study shows malaria vaccine efficacy may improve by changing dosing schedule