Chemotherapeutic prevention of complications caused by vaccinia virus-vectored immunogen

Vaccinia virus strains and constructs differ greatly in the number of PFUs required to produce tail lesions in the vaccinia virus mouse model. The pathogenesis of lesion formation appeared to involve virus spread from an initial focus in specific cells surrounding hair follicles to other concentrated areas of the dermis and finally, at the time of lesion development, to the epidermis. Antivirals that suppressed tail lesions, to a greater or lesser degree, included ara A, ribavirin, rifampicin, adenosine N'-oxide, and selected analogues. Immunomodulators, including ampligen and recombinant interferon, suppressed lesions at very low doses. Spread of virus infection from the dermis to the epidermis was inhibited as determined by immunofluorescence. These studies in the tail lesion model have suggested drugs that could be tested further in primate models of vaccinia virus infection. In addition, these studies provide additional data on a model that may be a useful adjunct in safety testing of recombinant vaccinia virus vaccines.