The development and use of vaccines against some serious
human viruses was certainly one of the great success stories of 20'th century
biological science. In the early decades of the 20'th century, viral diseases
such as yellow fever, polio, and rabies were greatly feared, because there was
no effective way of preventing the very serious diseases caused by these easily
transmissible viruses. The development of new vaccines remains one of the main
goals of much virology research.
1. What are the available vaccines against human viral
diseases, and what are some updates on the use and effectiveness of these vaccines?
The main human viral vaccines, roughly
in order of when they were developed, are:
VIRUS/DISEASE VACCINE TYPE
Smallpox Live Vaccinia virus (Led
to the global elimination of smallpox by late 1970's.)
Yellow fever Live
attenuated strain (of yellow fever virus)
Measles Live attenuated strain
(of measles virus)
Mumps Live attenuated strain (of
mumps virus)
Rubella Live attenuated strain
(of rubella virus)
Polio Live attenuated strain (Sabin) or Inactivated virions (Salk) (2007 JID article )
Influenza Inactivated virions or live attenutated strain ( NEJM articles, December 2006)
Rabies Inactivated virions (for
post-exposure use)
Hepatitis B Viral envelope glycoprotein
(from cloned HBV DNA)
Varicella-zoster Live attenuated strain (1990's) (March 2007 update, NEJM article)
Hepatitis A Inactivated virions (1990's)
Rotavirus Live attenuated strain (2006 article) & human-bovine reassortment strain (2006 article)
HPV Virus-like particles ( NEJM perspective 2006)
2. What is a 2010 update on influenza vaccines?
Here is the summary of a perspective by Doms from Science, 27 August 2010: "Prime, Boost, and Broaden".
3. What is a 2010 update on development of an effective vaccine against HIV?
Here is the summary of a perspective by Burton and Weiss from Science, 13 August 2010: "A Boost for HIV Vaccine Design".