According to the WHO, vaccination is the most cost-effective way of preventing disease. It currently prevents two to three million deaths a year. The oldest and best vaccines protect against viruses, but the low-hanging vaccine fruits have been harvested. The top 3 most needed vaccines are HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. The “Big Three”, as they are often called in infectious diseases, make it immediately clear how complex the business with pathogens is: HIV is a virus, malaria is caused by a parasite and tuberculosis is a bacterial infection.
But why is it so difficult to develop vaccines against them? After all, within a year it was possible to create a vaccine against COVID-19 that provides very effective protection. Good vaccines imitate nature or, ideally, even improve the immune mechanisms that trigger the pathogens. But there is no natural immunity to HIV, tuberculosis, or malaria – and so there is no mechanism for science to emulate.
The key to good vaccines is research into the mechanisms and tailor-made engineering of the attack sites for the vaccines – just as it was used for the mRNA vaccines from Biontech and Moderna. In general, nothing in vaccine development seems to go without the four magic letters mRNA for a year. The companies that develop these vaccines are now also putting HIV, malaria, nosocomial germs, influenza, RSV and various other diseases on the agenda. Can mRNA solve all vaccination problems in the future?
Dare to make the digital breakthrough – that should be the credo of the new government. In the new TR edition there are tips on how this can be achieved. You can read this and more in the new issue, which will be available from December 23. is in the trade and from the 22.12. can be conveniently ordered in the heise shop. Highlights from the magazine:
The immune system is not just made up of antibodies
The experts agree that mRNA can generate good antibody responses, but they are not the only salvation agents. For good vaccines, regardless of the technology used to produce them, knowledge of the structures that protect against a pathogen is essential. In addition, the immune system is not just made up of antibodies. It has many “arms” that influence each other and ideally both strike quickly and build a long memory. How the various responses of the immune system can be addressed are the crucial research questions that immunology will have to grapple with over the next few years. But mRNA can be a key technology for this.
Despite the many questions and pitfalls, immunology has achieved a lot over the past decade. Many vaccines – not just against HIV, malaria and tuberculosis – are in clinical development. Research is also making progress against so-called hospital germs. “Nosocomial germs” is the technical term for common bacteria that only become a problem in hospitals. They infect wounds, lungs or blisters that have a catheter in them. The “usual” side effects of a hospital stay. Except that more and more of these germs are resistant to all antibiotics. Experts estimate that the problem with resistant bacteria is even bigger than the problem with HIV. However, it is much more difficult to develop vaccines against bacteria than against viruses. And against bacteria that are an integral part of our organism in the intestines and on the skin. It’s complicated, but it can work.
No matter whether viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites: The race with pathogens for our health is getting faster and faster. You can find out where the research stands, what tricks researchers use to develop vaccines and what role mRNA plays in this in the current issue 1/2022 of MIT Technology Review (can be ordered in the heise shop and available in well-stocked newsagents).
(jsc)