Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus: A Quest for Better Vaccines against a Virus on the Rise

Kubinski, Mareike; Beicht, Jana; Gerlach, Thomas; Volz, Asisa; Sutter, Gerd; Rimmelzwaan, Guus F.

doi:10.3390/vaccines8030451

Open AccessReview

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus: A Quest for Better Vaccines against a Virus on the Rise

by

Mareike Kubinski

^1,†,

Jana Beicht

^1,†,

Thomas Gerlach

¹,

Asisa Volz

²,

Gerd Sutter

³

and

Guus F. Rimmelzwaan

^1,*

¹

Research Center for Emerging Infections and Zoonoses (RIZ), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (TiHo), Buenteweg 17, 30559 Hannover, Germany

²

Institute of Virology, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation (TiHo), Buenteweg 17, 30559 Hannover, Germany

³

Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) Munich, Veterinaerstr. 13, 80539 Munich, Germany

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Vaccines 2020, 8(3), 451; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030451

Submission received: 17 July 2020 / Revised: 6 August 2020 / Accepted: 10 August 2020 / Published: 12 August 2020

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genomic Medicine and Advances in Vaccine Technology and Development in the Developing and Developed World)

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Abstract

Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), a member of the family Flaviviridae, is one of the most important tick-transmitted viruses in Europe and Asia. Being a neurotropic virus, TBEV causes infection of the central nervous system, leading to various (permanent) neurological disorders summarized as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). The incidence of TBE cases has increased due to the expansion of TBEV and its vectors. Since antiviral treatment is lacking, vaccination against TBEV is the most important protective measure. However, vaccination coverage is relatively low and immunogenicity of the currently available vaccines is limited, which may account for the vaccine failures that are observed. Understanding the TBEV-specific correlates of protection is of pivotal importance for developing novel and improved TBEV vaccines. For affording robust protection against infection and development of TBE, vaccines should induce both humoral and cellular immunity. In this review, the adaptive immunity induced upon TBEV infection and vaccination as well as novel approaches to produce improved TBEV vaccines are discussed.

Keywords: tick-borne encephalitis virus; TBEV; flavivirus; vaccination; vaccine; immunity; antibodies; CD4⁺ T cells; CD8⁺ T cells

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kubinski, M.; Beicht, J.; Gerlach, T.; Volz, A.; Sutter, G.; Rimmelzwaan, G.F. Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus: A Quest for Better Vaccines against a Virus on the Rise. Vaccines 2020, 8, 451. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030451

AMA Style

Kubinski M, Beicht J, Gerlach T, Volz A, Sutter G, Rimmelzwaan GF. Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus: A Quest for Better Vaccines against a Virus on the Rise. Vaccines. 2020; 8(3):451. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030451

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kubinski, Mareike, Jana Beicht, Thomas Gerlach, Asisa Volz, Gerd Sutter, and Guus F. Rimmelzwaan. 2020. "Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus: A Quest for Better Vaccines against a Virus on the Rise" Vaccines 8, no. 3: 451. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030451

APA Style

Kubinski, M., Beicht, J., Gerlach, T., Volz, A., Sutter, G., & Rimmelzwaan, G. F. (2020). Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus: A Quest for Better Vaccines against a Virus on the Rise. Vaccines, 8(3), 451. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines8030451

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus: A Quest for Better Vaccines against a Virus on the Rise

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