Review Article
Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines
Monica A. McArthur1 and Michael R. Holbrook2*
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Maryland, Baltimore MD, USA
2NIAID Integrated Research Facility, Ft. Detrick, Frederick MD 21702, USA
- *Corresponding Author:
- Michael R. Holbrook, PhD
NIAID Integrated Research Facility
8200 Research Plaza
Ft. Detrick,Frederick, MD 21702
Tel: 301-631- 7265
Fax: 301-619-5029
E-mail: Michael.holbrook@nih.gov
Received Date: July 16, 2010; Accepted Date: September 07, 2011; Published Date: September 25, 2011
Citation: McArthur MA, Holbrook MR (2011) Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines. J Bioterr Biodef S1:002. doi: 10.4172/2157-2526.S1-002
Copyright: © 2011 McArthur MA, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a significant human health concern in Asia, Indonesia and parts of Australia with more than 3 billion people potentially at risk of infection with Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), the causative agent of JE. Given the risk to human health and the theoretical potential for JEV use as a bioweapon, the development of safe and effective vaccines to prevent JEV infection is vital for preserving human health. The development of vaccines for JE began in the 1940s with formalin-inactivated mouse brain-derived vaccines. These vaccines have been shown to induce a protective immune response and to be very effective. Mouse brain-derived vaccines were still in use until May 2011 when the last lots of the BIKEN® JE-VAX® expired. Development of modern JE vaccines utilizes cell culturederived viruses and improvements in manufacturing processes as well as removal of potential allergens or toxins have significantly improved vaccine safety. China has developed a live-attenuated vaccine that has proven to induce protective immunity following a single inoculation. In addition, a chimeric vaccine virus incorporating the prM and E structural proteins derived from the live-attenuated JE vaccine into the live-attenuated yellow fever 17D vaccine virus backbone is currently in clinical trials. In this article, we provide a summary of JE vaccine development and on-going clinical trials. We also discuss the potential risk of JEV as a bioweapon with a focus on virus sustainability if used as a weapon.
