Developments in rabies vaccines

• Published in: Clinical and experimental immunology Vol. 169; no. 3; pp. 199 - 204
• Main Authors: Hicks, D. J., Fooks, A. R., Johnson, N.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2012; Blackwell; Oxford University Press; Blackwell Science Inc
• Subjects: Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - biosynthesis; Antibodies, Viral - immunology; Antiviral agents; Biological and medical sciences; Bites and Stings - virology; Central nervous system; Chiroptera - virology; Disease Reservoirs; Dog Diseases - prevention & control; Dog Diseases - virology; Dogs - virology; Endemic Diseases; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genome, Viral; Global Health; Human viral diseases; Humans; Immune response; Immune system; Immunity, Innate; Infection; Infectious diseases; Inoculation; Livestock; Medical sciences; Mice; Models, Animal; Nervous System - pathology; Nervous System - virology; Prophylaxis; Rabies; Rabies - epidemiology; Rabies - immunology; Rabies - pathology; Rabies - prevention & control; Rabies - transmission; Rabies - virology; Rabies Vaccines - classification; Rabies Vaccines - immunology; Rabies virus; Rabies virus - genetics; Rabies virus - immunology; Rabies virus - physiology; reverse genetics; Review; vaccination; Vaccination - trends; Vaccination - veterinary; Vaccines; Vaccines, Inactivated; Vaccines, Synthetic; Viral diseases; Viral diseases of the nervous system; Viruses; Wildlife; Nervous system diseases; reverse genetics; Vaccination; Central nervous system; Biochemistry; Vaccine; Rabies virus; Infection; Virus; Prevention; Mononegavirales; Rhabdoviridae; Viral disease; Rabies; Lyssavirus; Genetics; Reversibility
• ISSN: 0009-9104; 1365-2249
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2012.04592.x

Summary The development of vaccines that prevent rabies has a long and distinguished history, with the earliest preceding modern understanding of viruses and the mechanisms of immune protection against disease. The correct application of inactivated tissue culture‐derived vaccines is highly effective at preventing the development of rabies, and very few failures are recorded. Furthermore, oral and parenteral vaccination is possible for wildlife, companion animals and livestock, again using inactivated tissue culture‐derived virus. However, rabies remains endemic in many regions of the world and causes thousands of human deaths annually. There also remain no means of prophylaxis for rabies once the virus enters the central nervous system (CNS). One reason for this is the poor immune response within the CNS to infection with rabies virus (RABV). New approaches to vaccination using modified rabies viruses that express components of the innate immune system are being applied to this problem. Preliminary reports suggest that direct inoculation of such viruses could trigger an effective anti‐viral response and prevent a fatal outcome from RABV infection.