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Review
. 2012 Sep;11(9):1087-101.
doi: 10.1586/erv.12.84.

Chikungunya virus and prospects for a vaccine

Scott C Weaver  1 , Jorge E Osorio, Jill A Livengood, Rubing Chen, Dan T Stinchcomb
Affiliations
Review

Chikungunya virus and prospects for a vaccine

Scott C Weaver et al. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2012 Sep.

Abstract

In 2004, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) re-emerged from East Africa to cause devastating epidemics of debilitating and often chronic arthralgia that have affected millions of people in the Indian Ocean Basin and Asia. More limited epidemics initiated by travelers subsequently occurred in Italy and France, as well as human cases exported to most regions of the world, including the Americas where CHIKV could become endemic. Because CHIKV circulates during epidemics in an urban mosquito-human cycle, control of transmission relies on mosquito abatement, which is rarely effective. Furthermore, there is no antiviral treatment for CHIKV infection and no licensed vaccine to prevent disease. Here, we discuss the challenges to the development of a safe, effective and affordable chikungunya vaccine and recent progress toward this goal.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Organization of the chikungunya virus genome, including the nonstructural and structural polyprotein open reading frames, and the 26S or subgenomic promoter
Figure 2
Figure 2. Cryoelectron microscopic reconstruction of the alphavirus virion
Enlarged image on the right shows the orientation of the E2 and E1 envelope glycoproteins in the virion spikes. CP: Capsid protein. Reproduced with permission from [116].
Figure 3
Figure 3. Chikungunya virus transmission cycles, including the progenitor sylvatic, enzootic cycle on the left and the emergent epidemic cycle on the right
Reproduced with permission from [32].
Figure 4
Figure 4. Phylogenetic tree of chikungunya virus strains derived from complete concatenated open reading frames for the nonstructural and structural polyproteins
Key E1 amino acid substitutions that facilitated (Indian Ocean lineage) or prevented (Asian lineage) adaptation to Aedes albopictus are shown on the right. CAR: Central African republic; ECSA: East/Central/South Africa.
Figure 5
Figure 5. Distribution of chikungunya virus strains and movement of outbreaks inferred from the phylogenetic analysis depicted in Figure 4
CHIK: Chikungunya fever; CHIKV: Chikungunya virus. Reproduced with permission from [24].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Website

    1. Indian Immunologicals developing vaccine for chikungunya. [9 February 2012];The Hindu Business Line. www.thehindubusinessline.com/companies/article2875901.ece.

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