Vienna University. Austria: A modified, conventional measles vaccine has the potential to act
against the Chikungunya virus. This is the result of a study at the
University Clinic for Clinical Pharmacology of the MedUni Wien (Medical
University of Vienna), which has now been published in the top journal
"The Lancet Infectious Diseases". Up until now, there has been no
effective vaccine against the Chikungunya virus and the associated
feverish illness which can prove lethal, and is particularly prevalent
in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Scientists at the MedUni
Wien led by Bernd Jilma, and in cooperation with the Institut Pasteur
in Paris, the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the USA, and the
Vienna biotechnology company Themis Bioscience GmbH, have succeeded in
introducing tiny surface particles of the Chikungunya virus into the
human body using the measles vaccine and proving its effectiveness.
Jilma:
"The modified measles virus is planted into people in Trojan horse
style, and there it produces the corresponding surface particle of the
Chikungunya virus. This occurs to such a low concentration that no
symptoms of the disease appear. However, the Chikungunya particles are
still able to stimulate the lymphatic system and to trigger the antibody
production against the virus. These antibodies are then available at
any time should an infection with the Chikungunya virus really occur. As
a result, the disease cannot break out." The technology itself was
developed at the Institut Pasteur, implemented by Themis Bioscence GmbH
and has now been successfully clinically tested at the MedUni Wien using
42 test persons.
A further positive effect: The modified virus
also strengthens immunity against the classic measles infection. "If the
vaccine is changed accordingly, it could also be effective against
dengue fever or other viruses", according to Jilma. The findings must
now be clinically evaluated in Phase II and Phase III studies;
utilisation in practice could be feasible in three to five years,
according to the scientists. An active immunisation is possible using a
one or two-part vaccination.
There were 20 cases of Chikungunya
fever in Austria in the past year. In the Caribbean, Central and South
America and on the Pacific Islands, but also in the USA, the virus which
is transmitted via mosquitoes has triggered an epidemic, probably since
2013. According to current information from the pan-American health
organisation OPS, more than 1.2 million people have become ill with the
virus since then, whereby the Caribbean region is particularly affected
by it.
Amongst other things, the Chikungunya fever causes
muscular and severe joint pain, which can remain for months, and high
fever. Furthermore, those affected often suffer from nausea and
vomiting. If the patients have a healthy immune system, the disease
normally passes without any severe complications. For weak patients, it
can however be lethal. Up until now, there is neither an effective
medication nor a vaccine against this disease. People who travel to
affected countries are urgently advised to protect themselves against
mosquito bites.
Five research clusters at the MedUni Wien
In
total, five research clusters are established at the MedUni Wien. Here
key areas are increasingly being set up in basic principle and clinical
research - at the MedUni Wien. The research clusters encompass medical
imaging, cancer research/oncology, cardiovascular medicine, medical
neurosciences and immunology, into which the content of this work
falls.
Service: Lancet Infectious Diseases
„Immunogenicity,
safety, and tolerability of a recombinant measles-virus-based
chikungunya vaccine: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled,
active-comparator, first-in-man trial.“ Katrin Ramsauer, Michael
Schwameis, Christa Firbas, Matthias Müllner, Robert J Putnak, Stephen J
Thomas, Philippe Desprès, Erich Tauber, Bernd Jilma, Frederic Tangy.
Lancet Infect Dis 2015. March, 2015 dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)70043-5.