DNA-based immunization against Lyssaviruses

Rabies is a fatal encephalomyelitis. Most cases occur in developing countries and are transmitted by dogs. Because of their high cost, cell culture vaccines have not totally replaced the unsafe brain-derived vaccines which are still used in many developing countries. Moreover, there will be a need for vaccines against rabies-related viruses against which classical vaccines are not always effective. DNA vaccines would, therefore, be a valuable alternative for the production of cheaper rabies vaccines against a larger spectrum of viruses. In this review we report published data on DNA-based immunization with sequences encoding rabies and rabies-related virus antigens.