Development of MVA-d34 Tetravalent Dengue Vaccine: Design and Immunogenicity

Dengue fever, an infectious disease that affects more than 100 million people every year, is a global health problem. Vaccination may be the most effective prevention strategy for the disease. However, the development of vaccines against dengue fever is complicated by the high risk of developing an antibody-dependent increase in infection. This article describes the development of an MVA-d34 vaccine against the dengue virus based on a safe and effective MVA viral vector. The DIII domains of the envelope protein (E) of the dengue virus are used as vaccine antigens, as antibodies against these domains do not cause an enhancement of infection. The use of the DIII domains of each of the four dengue virus serotypes made it possible to generate a humoral response against all four dengue virus serotypes in immunized mice. We also showed that the sera of vaccinated mice present virus-neutralizing activity against dengue serotype 2. Thus, the developed MVA-d34 vaccine is a promising candidate vaccine against dengue fever.