Eti R Sarkar, Suchandan Sikder, Paul Giacomin, Alex Loukas
{"title":"Hookworm vaccines: current and future directions.","authors":"Eti R Sarkar, Suchandan Sikder, Paul Giacomin, Alex Loukas","doi":"10.1080/14760584.2024.2410893","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Hookworms infect about half a billion people worldwide and are responsible for the loss of more than two billion disability-adjusted life years. Mass drug administration (MDA) is the most popular preventive approach, but it does not prevent reinfection. An effective vaccine would be a major public health tool in hookworm-endemic areas.</p><p><strong>Areas covered: </strong>We highlight recent human studies where vaccination with irradiated larvae and repeated rounds of infection-treatment have induced partial protection. These studies have emphasized the importance of targeting the infective larvae to generate immunity to prevent adult worms from maturing in the gut. We summarize the current status of human and animal model vaccine trials.</p><p><strong>Expert opinion: </strong>Hookworm infection is endemic in resource-poor developing regions where polyparasitism is common, and vaccine cold chain logistics are complex. Humans do not develop sterile immunity to hookworms, and the elderly are frequently overlooked in MDA campaigns. For all these reasons, a vaccine is essential to create long-lasting protection. The lack of a robust animal model to mimic human hookworm infections is a barrier to the discovery and development of a vaccine, however, there have been major recent advances in human challenge studies which will accelerate the process.</p>","PeriodicalId":12326,"journal":{"name":"Expert Review of Vaccines","volume":" ","pages":"1029-1040"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Expert Review of Vaccines","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14760584.2024.2410893","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/11/15 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"IMMUNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Hookworms infect about half a billion people worldwide and are responsible for the loss of more than two billion disability-adjusted life years. Mass drug administration (MDA) is the most popular preventive approach, but it does not prevent reinfection. An effective vaccine would be a major public health tool in hookworm-endemic areas.
Areas covered: We highlight recent human studies where vaccination with irradiated larvae and repeated rounds of infection-treatment have induced partial protection. These studies have emphasized the importance of targeting the infective larvae to generate immunity to prevent adult worms from maturing in the gut. We summarize the current status of human and animal model vaccine trials.
Expert opinion: Hookworm infection is endemic in resource-poor developing regions where polyparasitism is common, and vaccine cold chain logistics are complex. Humans do not develop sterile immunity to hookworms, and the elderly are frequently overlooked in MDA campaigns. For all these reasons, a vaccine is essential to create long-lasting protection. The lack of a robust animal model to mimic human hookworm infections is a barrier to the discovery and development of a vaccine, however, there have been major recent advances in human challenge studies which will accelerate the process.
期刊介绍:
Expert Review of Vaccines (ISSN 1476-0584) provides expert commentary on the development, application, and clinical effectiveness of new vaccines. Coverage includes vaccine technology, vaccine adjuvants, prophylactic vaccines, therapeutic vaccines, AIDS vaccines and vaccines for defence against bioterrorism. All articles are subject to rigorous peer-review.
The vaccine field has been transformed by recent technological advances, but there remain many challenges in the delivery of cost-effective, safe vaccines. Expert Review of Vaccines facilitates decision making to drive forward this exciting field.