Novel vaccine strategy against Chikungunya developed

Scientists, including one of Indian-origin, have found a novel vaccine strategy that can provide both short term and long term protection against the Chikungunya virus when combined with a traditional DNA-based vaccine.
The Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is transmitted through mosquitoes and causes fever and joint pain that can sometimes become severe and disabling.
Researchers found a vaccine strategy that boosts the immune system by rapidly producing antibodies against CHIKV.
"Antigen-based vaccination strategies require a lag time that leaves patients susceptible to infection and disease," said David B Weiner, of The Wistar Institute in US.
"This novel strategy for generating rapid immune protection has the ability to fill this gap in the way vaccines are developed for CHIKV and other emerging and dangerous diseases," Weiner said.

Researchers have developed a non-viral, vector-based monoclonal antibody delivery method that they believe has advantages for rapid antibody generation.

Normally, monoclonal antibodies are manufactured outside of the body and therefore take time to develop and are very costly.
Through genetic enhancement and improved formulations as well as a unique delivery system involving electroporation - a technology where electrical fields are created to make cells more permeable - the vaccine can be delivered directly into cells in a living animal where the monoclonal antibodies designed to fight the disease are directly manufactured and delivered into the blood stream providing rapid immunity.

In this study, when mice infected with CHIKV were given one intramuscular injection of the monoclonal antibody-producing CHIKV vaccine, antibodies against the virus were generated in vivo within 24 hours of administration.
The injection neutralised isolated pockets of the virus and protected the mice from viral challenge.
Since the virus usually manifests itself within 3-to-7 days of transmission, a rapid response is important for reducing the burden of the disease.
When combined with a DNA-based vaccine for CHIKV, the researchers observed both rapid and long-lived protection against the virus.
"The vaccination regimen we tested in this study provided stable, persistent responses against a virus with rapidly increasing global incidence," said first author Karrupiah Muthumani, assistant professor in the Wistar Institute.

"This new approach will likely have importance for a variety of infectious and non-infectious diseases," Muthumani said.
The research was published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.