Live Viral Vaccine Neurovirulence Screening: Current and Future Models

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 7; p. 710
• Main Authors: May Fulton, Corey, Bailey, Wendy J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 30.06.2021; MDPI
• Subjects: Chicken pox; Clinical outcomes; Control methods; Disease prevention; Ebola virus; Encephalitis; Genomes; Glycoproteins; In vitro methods and tests; In vivo methods and tests; Infections; live attenuated vaccines; live viral vaccines; Measles; monkey neurovirulence test; Mumps; Mutation; Neurovirulence; Review; Rubella; Screening; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Spinal cord; vaccine safety; Vaccines; Viral diseases; Viral infections; Viruses; West Nile virus
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9070710

Live viral vaccines are one of the most successful methods for controlling viral infections but require strong evidence to indicate that they are properly attenuated. Screening for residual neurovirulence is an important aspect for live viral vaccines against potentially neurovirulent diseases. Approximately half of all emerging viral diseases have neurological effects, so testing of future vaccines will need to be rapid and accurate. The current method, the monkey neurovirulence test (MNVT), shows limited translatability for human diseases and does not account for different viral pathogenic mechanisms. This review discusses the MNVT and potential alternative models, including in vivo and in vitro methods. The advantages and disadvantages of these methods are discussed, and there are promising data indicating high levels of translatability. There is a need to investigate these models more thoroughly and to devise more accurate and rapid alternatives to the MNVT.