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Editorial

Recent Advances in Vaccine Development for Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses

by
Young Chan Kim
1,2,* and
Arturo Reyes-Sandoval
3
1
Oxford Vaccine Group, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7LE, UK
2
Centre for Human Genetics, Division of Structural Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
3
Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), Av. Luis Enrique Erro s/n. Unidad Adolfo López Mateos, Mexico City 07738, Mexico
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Vaccines 2025, 13(8), 808; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13080808
Submission received: 16 July 2025 / Revised: 22 July 2025 / Accepted: 28 July 2025 / Published: 30 July 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vaccines Against Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses: Recent Advances and Future Challenges—2nd Edition)
Versions Notes
Mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue (DENV), yellow fever (YFV), Zika (ZIKV), and chikungunya (CHIKV) have re-emerged in recent decades, affecting millions of people worldwide [1,2,3]. These flaviviruses and alphaviruses can be classified into a broader category of arboviruses, which cause significant disease burdens and public health concerns. Vaccine development against arboviruses has experienced swift progress after the sudden re-emergence of cases of DENV, CHIKV, YFV, and ZIKV in the last two decades [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]. The 21st century has heralded a new era in vaccinology, driven by recombinant genetic technologies that now enable unprecedented speed in vaccine development, which has been clearly demonstrated by the rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic [9]. A broad range of vaccine platforms, including both classical and new approaches, such as inactivated and attenuated, protein subunits, virus-like particles (VLPs), viral vectors, and nucleic acids (DNA and mRNA), is currently being tested in preclinical studies and in clinical trials [10,11,12].
A recent milestone in vaccine development for alphaviruses is the FDA’s approval of two chikungunya virus (CHIKV) vaccines—IXCHIQ, a single-dose live-attenuated vaccine (approved November 2023), and VIMKUNYA, a recombinant virus-like particle (VLP) adsorbed to aluminum hydroxide as an adjuvant (approved February 2025) [13,14]. Despite this progress, there is a continuing need for next-generation vaccines that can overcome limited supplies of inactivated or VLP vaccines and the contraindications that may restrict live-attenuated vaccines in pregnant or immunocompromised populations [15,16,17,18].
Building on the success of the first Special Issue of Vaccines, entitled “Vaccines Against Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses: Recent Advances and Future Challenges”, this second edition of the Special Issue will feature the latest developments in relation to vaccines against flaviviruses and alphaviruses from antigen design to clinical testing [19]. Although the overall progress against many arboviruses remains slow, a diverse pipeline of vaccine candidates spanning both classical and next-generation platforms is now in clinical trials and could lead to the future licensure of vaccines targeting these medically important emerging arboviruses.

Funding

Y.C.K. is supported by the Wellcome Trust Grant (224117/Z/21/Z).

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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  13. Commissioner of Food and Drugs. FDA Approves First Vaccine to Prevent Disease Caused by Chikungunya Virus. Available online: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-vaccine-prevent-disease-caused-chikungunya-virus (accessed on 15 July 2025).
  14. Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). VIMKUNYA; FDA: Silver Spring, MD, USA, 2025.
  15. Sutter, R.W.; Cochi, S.L. Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine Supply Shortage: Is There Light at the End of the Tunnel? J. Infect. Dis. 2019, 220, 1545–1546. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  16. CDC. Contraindications and Precautions. Available online: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp/imz-best-practices/contraindications-precautions.html (accessed on 17 July 2025).
  17. Opri, R.; Zanoni, G.; Caffarelli, C.; Bottau, P.; Caimmi, S.; Crisafulli, G.; Franceschini, F.; Liotti, L.; Saretta, F.; Vernich, M.; et al. True and False Contraindications to Vaccines. Allergol. Immunopathol. 2018, 46, 99–104. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
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  19. Kim, Y.C.; Reyes-Sandoval, A. Recent Developments in Vaccines against Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses. Vaccines 2023, 11, 448. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
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MDPI and ACS Style

Kim, Y.C.; Reyes-Sandoval, A. Recent Advances in Vaccine Development for Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses. Vaccines 2025, 13, 808. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13080808

AMA Style

Kim YC, Reyes-Sandoval A. Recent Advances in Vaccine Development for Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses. Vaccines. 2025; 13(8):808. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13080808

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kim, Young Chan, and Arturo Reyes-Sandoval. 2025. "Recent Advances in Vaccine Development for Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses" Vaccines 13, no. 8: 808. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13080808

APA Style

Kim, Y. C., & Reyes-Sandoval, A. (2025). Recent Advances in Vaccine Development for Flaviviruses and Alphaviruses. Vaccines, 13(8), 808. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines13080808

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