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Diagnostics and Vaccine Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases

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A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 May 2023) | Viewed by 10821

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Syed Faraz Ahmed

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Guest Editor

Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia
Interests: science & technology; vaccine related; prevention; immunization; emerging infectious diseases; computational immunology; infectious diseases

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the design of diagnostics and vaccines for different types of emerging infectious diseases. These include recent outbreaks of previously rare diseases as well as more widespread incidences of diseases that have historically been reported in specific geographical regions. Examples include HIV infection, filovirus diseases (Ebola virus, Marburg virus, etc.), flavivirus diseases (Dengue virus, Zika virus, etc.), Nipah virus infection, and the coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2, MERS, etc.).

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the substantial impact that infectious disease outbreaks can have on today’s highly connected world. We thus need to address these challenges on two fronts. First, we need to continually develop better diagnostic tools that can provide early detection of pathogens, agents of infectious diseases. Second, given the diversity of these pathogens and the heterogeneity of ways in which the human immune system may be primed to control and provide protection, there is an urgent need to design and develop multiple different platforms for next-generation vaccines.

With increasingly new outbreaks of infectious diseases in recent years, e.g., the multi-country outbreak of Monkeypox disease in 2022, it is very important that we identify precise and practical targets for designing effective diagnostics that can be quickly translated into development. In addition, increasing the availability of new vaccine design platforms such as mRNA and viral vector technologies as well as the progress in peptide-based multi-epitope vaccines, including in identifying precise and potent targets for the design of effective vaccines against emerging infectious diseases, is needed now more than ever.

Articles and reviews detailing the design of next-generation diagnostics and vaccines for any of emerging infectious disease are welcome.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Syed Faraz Ahmed
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

emerging infectious diseases
next-generation diagnostics
vaccine development
HIV infection
filovirus diseases
flavivirus diseases
Nipah virus infection
coronaviruses
monkeypox disease

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 1580 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Three-Dose mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine Regime Produces Both Suitable Immunogenicity and Satisfactory Efficacy in Patients with Solid Cancers

by Urska Janzic, Urska Bidovec-Stojkovic, Peter Korosec, Katja Mohorcic, Loredana Mrak, Marina Caks, Maja Ravnik, Erik Skof and Matija Rijavec

Vaccines 2023, 11(6), 1017; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11061017 - 23 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1491

Abstract

Background: The recommended booster third dose of vaccination against COVID-19 in cancer patients seems reasonable to protect them against a severe disease course. A prospective study was designed to assess the immunogenicity, efficacy, and safety of COVID-19 vaccination in this cohort. Methods: Patients with solid malignancies on active treatment were followed up after the primary course and booster third dose of vaccination to assess their anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 IgG levels, efficacy in the case of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and safety. Results: Out of 125 patients receiving the primary course of vaccination, 66 patients received a booster third dose of mRNA vaccine, with a 20-fold increase in median anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 IgG levels compared to Ab levels six months post-primary course of vaccination (p < 0.0001). After the booster third dose, anti-SARS-CoV-2 S1 IgG levels were comparable to healthy controls (p = 0.113). There was a decline in Ab levels 3 (p = 0.0003) and 6 months (p < 0.0001) post-third booster dose. No patients had either a severe disease course or a lethal outcome in the case of SARS-CoV-2 infection after the third booster dose. Conclusion: The third booster vaccination dose against COVID-19 in solid cancer patients triggers substantial immunogenicity and is safe and effective for preventing a severe COVID-19 disease course. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostics and Vaccine Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases)

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10 pages, 1030 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Immune Efficacy of the EV71 Vaccine in Fujian Province, China: A Real-World Analysis of HFMD

by Junrong Li, Fangqin Xie, Guangcan Lin and Dongjuan Zhang

Vaccines 2023, 11(5), 944; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11050944 - 04 May 2023

Viewed by 1278

Abstract

EV71 vaccine immunization mainly protects the human population against severe and fatal HFMD and has a positive effect on reducing the overall incidence rates of HFMD and of hospitalized cases. In the analysis of data collected over 4 years, we compared HFMD’s incidence rate, severity, and etiological changes in a target population before and after vaccine intervention. The incidence rate of HFMD decreased from 39.02‰ in 2014 to 11.02‰ in 2021, with a decrease rate of 71.7%, and the decrease was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The number of hospitalized cases decreased by 68.88%, the number of severe cases dropped by 95.60% and the number of deaths dropped to 0. The proportion of cases caused by the EV71 virus in different populations decreased significantly after the intervention, specifically, by 68.41% among individuals 0–4 years of age, by 74.32% among kindergarten children, by 86.07% in severe cases and by 100% with respect to the number of deaths. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostics and Vaccine Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases)

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Review

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21 pages, 1142 KiB

Open AccessReview

Advances in Alpha Herpes Viruses Vaccines for Human

by Madalina Preda, Loredana Sabina Cornelia Manolescu and Razvan Daniel Chivu

Vaccines 2023, 11(6), 1094; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines11061094 - 12 Jun 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2816

Abstract

Alpha herpes simplex viruses are an important public health problem affecting all age groups. It can produce from common cold sores and chicken pox to severe conditions like encephalitis or newborn mortality. Although all three subtypes of alpha herpes viruses have a similar structure, the produced pathology differs, and at the same time, the available prevention measures, such as vaccination. While there is an available and efficient vaccine for the varicella-zoster virus, for herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, after multiple approaches from trivalent subunit vaccine to next-generation live-attenuated virus vaccines and bioinformatic studies, there is still no vaccine available. Although there are multiple failed approaches in present studies, there are also a few promising attempts; for example, the trivalent vaccine containing herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) glycoproteins C, D, and E (gC2, gD2, gE2) produced in baculovirus was able to protect guinea pigs against vaginal infection and proved to cross-protect against HSV-1. Another promising vaccine is the multivalent DNA vaccine, SL-V20, tested in a mouse model, which lowered the clinical signs of infection and produced efficient viral eradication against vaginal HSV-2. Promising approaches have emerged after the COVID-19 pandemic, and a possible nucleoside-modified mRNA vaccine could be the next step. All the approaches until now have not led to a successful vaccine that could be easy to administer and, at the same time, offer antibodies for a long period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostics and Vaccine Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases)

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19 pages, 1781 KiB

Open AccessReview

Disease History, Pathogenesis, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics for Human Monkeypox Disease: A Comprehensive Review

by AbdulRahman A. Saied, Manish Dhawan, Asmaa A. Metwally, Mathumalar Loganathan Fahrni, Priyanka Choudhary and Om Prakash Choudhary

Vaccines 2022, 10(12), 2091; https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10122091 - 07 Dec 2022

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4699

Abstract

The monkeypox disease is a zoonotic-infectious disease that transmits between animals and humans. It is caused by a double-stranded DNA virus belonging to the Orthopoxvirus genus that is closely related to the variola virus –the causative agent of smallpox. Although monkeypox infections were endemic to Western and Central Africa, the newly emerging monkeypox outbreak spread to more than 90 non-African countries. With the exception of the PCR-confirmed case of a return from Nigeria to the United Kingdom, the ongoing outbreak is largely unrelated to travel. In the most recent wave, cases are characteristically males in their thirties. Risk factors include close and particularly sexual contact with an infected person, and contact with fomites, infected animals or aerosolized-infectious material. Clinical diagnosis of monkeypox is confirmed with nucleic-acid amplification testing of samples originating from vesicles or genital lesions and using real-time or conventional PCR. Other methods, such as electron microscopy, immunohistochemistry, and virus culture are costly and time-consuming. In addition to timely diagnosis and contact tracing, restrictive measures to limit spread, such as isolation of infected patients, preventing contact with wild animals, and isolation of animals suspected to be viral reservoirs have shown promise. Although there are no specific treatments for monkeypox disease, the experience with smallpox suggests that the vaccinia vaccine, cidofovir, tecovirimat, and vaccinia immune globulin (IVG) may be beneficial for monkeypox treatment. In this review, we provide an update on the human-monkeypox disease with a special emphasis on its pathogenesis, prevention, diagnostics, and therapeutic measures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostics and Vaccine Development for Emerging Infectious Diseases)

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