Rethinking the Response to Emerging Microbes: Vaccines and Therapeutics in the Ebola Era--a Conference at Harvard Medical School.

Harvard Medical School convened a meeting of biomedical and clinical experts on 5 March 2015 on the topic of "Rethinking the Response to Emerging Microbes: Vaccines and Therapeutics in the Ebola Era," with the goals of discussing the lessons from the recent Ebola outbreak and using those lessons as a case study to aid preparations for future emerging infections. The speakers and audience discussed the special challenges in combatting an infectious agent that causes sporadic outbreaks in resource-poor countries. The meeting led to a call for improved basic medical care for all and continued support of basic discovery research to provide the foundation for preparedness for future outbreaks in addition to the targeted emergency response to outbreaks and targeted research programs against Ebola virus and other specific emerging pathogens.

Knipe DM ，Whelan SP 《-》

Towards a vaccine against Ebola virus.

Geisbert TW ，Jahrling PB 《-》

Vaccine development for emerging virulent infectious diseases.

The recent outbreak of Zaire Ebola virus in West Africa altered the classical paradigm of vaccine development and that for emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in general. In this paper, the precepts of vaccine discovery and advancement through pre-clinical and clinical assessment are discussed in the context of the recent Ebola virus, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and Zika virus outbreaks. Clinical trial design for diseases with high mortality rates and/or high morbidity in the face of a global perception of immediate need and the factors that drive design in the face of a changing epidemiology are presented. Vaccines for EIDs thus present a unique paradigm to standard development precepts.

Maslow JN 《-》

Rapid development of vaccines against emerging pathogens: The replication-deficient simian adenovirus platform technology.

Despite the fact that there had been multiple small outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease, when a large outbreak occurred in 2014 there were no vaccines or drugs available for use. Clinical development of multiple candidate vaccines was then initiated in parallel with attempts to contain the outbreak but only one vaccine was eventually tested in a phase III trial. In order to be better prepared for future outbreaks of known human pathogens, platform technologies to accelerate vaccine development should be employed, allowing vaccine developers to take advantage of detailed knowledge of the vaccine platform and facilitating rapid progress to clinical trials and eventually to vaccine stockpiles. This review gives an example of one such vaccine platform, replication-deficient simian adenoviruses, and describes progress in human and livestock vaccine development for three outbreak pathogens, Ebola virus, Rift Valley Fever Virus and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus.

Gilbert SC ，Warimwe GM 《-》

Emerging diseases. On the trail of Ebola and Marburg viruses.

Balter M 《-》