The word pandemic is not new, pandemics have ravaged the planet throughout history. By definition, a pandemic is a disease outbreak that spreads across countries and continents, and takes more lives than an epidemic. From the ancient plague of Athens in 430 B.C., to the Black Death that wiped out over half of Europe’s population; the 1918 Spanish Flu which infected half a billion people and killed ⅕ of them; the AIDS pandemic which started in 1981; the Ebola virus in West Africa, to the current COVID-19 pandemic, mankind has been at the mercy of these diseases for a long time. And pandemics have been increasing over the past 20 years…who knows what else will come our way in the future.
Future viruses could cause pandemics that may be more evasion-strong and deadlier. Because of this, as well as the damage caused by the current coronavirus pandemic, scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, CA, argue that governments should invest in new vaccine technology to be able to combat future pandemics.
The published article by experts suggests that vaccines that make use of “broadly neutralizing antibodies” could attack numerous strains of a virus family, such as influenza and coronaviruses. This could offer vital protection against dangerous virus strains in the future.
By now, everybody must realize the dangers of easily transmissible and deadly viruses such as the COVID-19 pandemic. While there have been numerous pandemics throughout history, it seems the past 2 decades have seen the diseases increasing. Researchers suggest that this may be due in part to climate change – caused also by deforestation and intensive farming practices. The closer proximity with humans and livestock increases the risk of zoonotic viruses crossing between species. Governments are urged not to take these underlying factors lightly, otherwise diseases and viruses will continue to increase in risks.
Dr. Dennis R. Burton and Dr. Eric J. Topol argue that a way of dealing with this threat is investing in vaccine technologies that can tackle a wide variety of virus types. They insist this is urgent, as the rapid development of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines was partly due to the structure of the virus. Future viruses may not be so accommodating to rapid vaccine development using conventional technologies.
The SARS-CoV-2 has a large attachment site which means it is relatively easier to develop vaccines that can stick to the virus’s attachment site, and stopping it from working. It is “evasion-lite” in this sense, meaning it does not rely on evading a person’s antibodies to multiply but by quickly triggering the infection in an individual before they can build up an immunological response.
But, there are viruses that are more “evasion-strong.” Drs. Burton and Topol highlight HIV, which can stay hidden from an individual’s immune system for years and generate an extensive number of strains within the body. Should a respiratory virus with these properties appear, it will take much longer to develop an effective vaccine, and the potential effects of the virus could be far worse if it develops into a pandemic.
With this in mind, the 2 doctors insist that there should be an investment in research of new vaccine technology that can respond to a wide variety of virus mutations. Antibodies that can tackle different strains of the same virus, not just one. This could provide effective response to new mutations of a dominant virus, such as the SARS-CoV-2, and offer potential protection against strains of a particular virus family – such as coronaviruses.
Dr. Burton and Dr. Topol explained that health organizations could stockpile these types of vaccines in advance of the next potential pandemic, and eventually keep any outbreak under control. Researchers, for example, could use this approach to develop an influenza vaccine that would be effective against various virus strains. Scientists develop new influenza vaccines annually, and attempt to predict which mutations are most likely to be prominent during the next flu season. The authors deem this important because the influenza virus has the potential of becoming a pandemic. “It is a respiratory virus, is readily transmitted between humans, and has animal reservoirs.”
Of course the 2 doctors admit that there are significant challenges to tackle with this new method of vaccine development. Specifically the financial costs – an investment of about $100-200 million per virus over a number of years. But they surely agree it would be worth it.
“As we’ve seen for influenza, one virus strain can cause more deaths than a world war and result in trillions of dollars of economic damage. Surely global governments that together spend $2 trillion a year on defense can find a few hundred million dollars to stop the next pandemic?”
Recommended For You
