Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Oct 1;8(4):566.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines8040566.

Using the Past to Maximize the Success Probability of Future Anti-Viral Vaccines

Philip Serwer  1
Affiliations

Using the Past to Maximize the Success Probability of Future Anti-Viral Vaccines

Philip Serwer. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

Rapid obtaining of safe, effective, anti-viral vaccines has recently risen to the top of the international agenda. To maximize the success probability of future anti-viral vaccines, the anti-viral vaccines successful in the past are summarized here by virus type and vaccine type. The primary focus is on viruses with both single-stranded RNA genomes and a membrane envelope, given the pandemic past of influenza viruses and coronaviruses. The following conclusion is reached, assuming that success of future strategies is positively correlated with strategies successful in the past. The primary strategy, especially for emerging pandemic viruses, should be development of vaccine antigens that are live-attenuated viruses; the secondary strategy should be development of vaccine antigens that are inactivated virus particles. Support for this conclusion comes from the complexity of immune systems. These conclusions imply the need for a revision in current strategic planning.

Keywords: SARS-CoV-2; immune system complexity; influenza; pandemics, virus-caused; vaccine development strategy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The author declares no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Jiang C., Yao X., Zhao Y., Wu J., Huang P., Pan C., Liu S., Pan C. Comparative review of respiratory diseases caused by coronaviruses and influenza A viruses during epidemic season. Microbes Infect. 2020;22:236–244. doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2020.05.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cyranoski D. Profile of a killer: The complex biology powering the coronavirus pandemic. Nature. 2020;581:22–26. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-01315-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yin Z., Kang Z., Yang D., Ding S., Luo H., Xiao E. A comparison of clinical and chest CT findings in patients with influenza a (H1N1) virus infection and coronavirus disease (COVID-19) AJR Am. J. Roentgenol. 2020:1–7. doi: 10.2214/AJR.20.23214. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hilleman M.R. Vaccines in historic evolution and perspective: A narrative of vaccine discoveries. J. Hum. Virol. 2000;3:63–76. doi: 10.1016/S0264-410X(99)00434-X. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hicks D.J., Fooks A.R., Johnson N. Developments in rabies vaccines. Clin. Exp. Immunol. 2012;169:199–204. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2012.04592.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources