Lassa fever future or investigational therapies
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Ammu Susheela, M.D. [2]
Overview
Extensive studies are being conducted to find new and improved mode of treatment for Lassa virus which inlcude vaccines, medicine and other novel approaches.
Future Research
- Researchers at the USAMRIID facility, where military biologists study infectious diseases, have a promising vaccine candidate. They have developed a replication-competent vaccine against Lassa virus based on recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus vectors expressing the Lassa virus glycoprotein. After a single intramuscular injection, test primates have survived lethal challenge, while showing no clinical symptoms.[1]
- Siga Technologies is developing an antiviral drug that has been shown effective in treating experimentally infected guinea pigs. In a study conducted at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), treatment with ST-193 once a day for 14 days resulted in significant reduction in mortality (71% of the animals survived at the low dose), whereas all untreated animals and those treated with ribavirin died within 20 days of the infection.[2]
- Studies are being conducted to improve the following aspects[3].
- Efficacy of the supportive treatment.
- Specific studies for early goal directed therapy.
- Optimizing Ribavirin therapy
- Check whether shorter duration would be helpful.
- Evaluation of oral ribavirin for post exposure prophylaxis.
- Testing efficacy of new anti-arenavirus drugs.
- Small interfering RNAs.
- Novel nucleoside analogs.
- Testing efficacy of non-arenavirus-specific drugs.
- Interferon alfacon-1.
- Recombinant activated protein C.
- Vaccines with recombinant and attenuated viruses, DNA vaccines, alphavirus replicons.
References
- ↑ Geisbert TW, Jones S, Fritz EA; et al. (2005). "Development of a new vaccine for the prevention of Lassa fever". PLoS Med. 2 (6): e183. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0020183. PMID 15971954.
- ↑ "SIGA Passes First Hurdle with Lassa Fever Antiviral ST-193" (Press release).
- ↑ Khan SH, Goba A, Chu M, Roth C, Healing T, Marx A; et al. (2008). "New opportunities for field research on the pathogenesis and treatment of Lassa fever". Antiviral Res. 78 (1): 103–15. doi:10.1016/j.antiviral.2007.11.003. PMID 18241935 PMID: 18241935 Check
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