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Potential vaccines and post-exposure treatments for filovirus infections

Brian M Friedrich1, John C Trefry, Julia E Biggins

  • 1United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Division of Virology, Frederick, MD 21702, USA. brian.m.friedrich.ctr@us.army.mil

Viruses
|November 22, 2012
PubMed

Insights

No approved treatments exist for filovirus infections, a major health threat. This review details current progress in developing filovirus therapeutics and vaccines, assessing their readiness for human use.

Area of Science:

  • Virology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Filoviruses (e.g., Ebola, Marburg) are highly pathogenic viruses causing severe hemorrhagic fevers.
  • These viruses pose significant risks as emerging infectious diseases and potential biothreats.
  • Despite research, no licensed vaccines or therapeutics are currently available for filoviral infections.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the current status of filovirus therapeutic and vaccine development.
  • To evaluate the progress of these countermeasures toward human implementation.
  • To discuss existing supportive care and past treatment strategies for filovirus infections.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of published research on filovirus countermeasures.
  • Assessment of development stages: in vitro, small animal studies, nonhuman primate studies, and human clinical trials.
  • Analysis of supportive care and historical treatment approaches.

Main Results:

  • Various therapeutic and vaccine candidates are in different stages of preclinical and clinical development.
  • Progress varies significantly among different candidate types and target filoviruses.
  • Human clinical trial data for most filovirus countermeasures remain limited.

Conclusions:

  • Significant advancements have been made in filovirus countermeasure development.
  • Further research and clinical evaluation are crucial for bringing effective filovirus vaccines and therapeutics to fruition.
  • Enhanced supportive care remains a critical component of managing filovirus infections.
Keywords:
EbolaMarburg virusanimal modelsclinical trialsebolavirusfilovirusmarburgvirusnon-human primatespost-exposure treatmentsvaccines

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