Advancement in Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Vaccines

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology and Immunology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 1138

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Gothenburg, 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden
Interests: vaccine development; mucosal immunity; ETEC

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is a major cause of diarrhea in children in developing countries and in travellers to these regions. It is also a major cause of diarrhea in piglets and calves. Intensive ongoing efforts aim to develop safe and effective ETEC vaccines for use in travellers as well as in children in endemic areas. Several promising ETEC candidate vaccines have reached the stage of Phase 1-2b clinical trials in humans, with promising results. Efforts to improve ETEC vaccines for use in livestock are also in progress. This Special Issue will address the following aims:

  • Provide an update of the epidemiology of ETEC disease in populations in developing countries and in travellers to these regions as a background for ETEC vaccine development.
  • Present different vaccine candidates, including new putative vaccine antigens, as well as promising adjuvants.
  • Explore different approaches to develop combined enteric vaccines, e.g., ETEC and Shigella.
  • Describe recent, ongoing and planned clinical trials of ETEC vaccines in target population (travellers to, and children and adults in ETEC endemic areas).
  • Outline the issue of ETEC disease in livestock and efforts to develop improved ETEC vaccines.

Dr. Ann-Mari Svennerholm
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • ETEC vaccine candidates
  • protective antigens
  • adjuvants
  • clinical trial phase 1-2b
  • ETEC epidemiology
  • travellers
  • children in LMIC
  • ETEC in animals

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

16 pages, 1895 KB  
Review
MecVax, an Epitope- and Structure-Based Broadly Protective Subunit Vaccine Against Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC)
by Weiping Zhang
Microorganisms 2025, 13(12), 2866; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13122866 - 17 Dec 2025
Viewed by 843
Abstract
No vaccines are licensed against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), a leading diarrheal cause in children and travelers. ETEC adhesins and enterotoxins are the virulence determinants and become the primary targets in ETEC vaccine development. However, ETEC strains produce > 25 adhesins and two [...] Read more.
No vaccines are licensed against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), a leading diarrheal cause in children and travelers. ETEC adhesins and enterotoxins are the virulence determinants and become the primary targets in ETEC vaccine development. However, ETEC strains produce > 25 adhesins and two potent enterotoxins, particularly the poorly immunogenic heat-stable toxin (STa), greatly hindering ETEC vaccine development. To overcome these challenges, we developed a multiepitope-fusion-antigen (MEFA) platform. MEFA presented multiple adhesin epitopes on a backbone and generated a polyvalent adhesin immunogen, CFA/I/II/IV MEF. CFA/I/II/IV protected against the seven ETEC adhesins (CFA/I, CS1-CS6) associated with two-thirds of ETEC diarrheal cases. We further used toxoids as safe antigens and created a toxoid fusion, 3xSTaN12S-mnLTR192G/L211A. This antigen induced antibodies neutralizing the enterotoxicity of STa and heat-labile toxin (LT), which, alone or together, cause all ETEC diarrheal cases. By combining two polyvalent proteins, we developed a multivalent ETEC vaccine, MecVax, that protects against seven ETEC adhesins and two enterotoxins. MecVax is broadly immunogenic. MecVax prevents intestinal colonization by ETEC strains expressing any of the seven adhesins and protects against clinical diarrhea from ETEC strains producing LT or STa enterotoxin preclinically, becoming a broadly protective ETEC vaccine candidate against children’s diarrhea and travelers’ diarrhea. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advancement in Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Vaccines)
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