Yellow Fever Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Yellow Fever, including details on immunization, vaccines, symptoms, transmission.

Pressure-inactivated yellow fever 17DD virus: implications for vaccine development.

Gaspar LP, Mendes YS, Yamamura AM, Almeida LF, Caride E, Gonçalves RB, Silva JL, Oliveira AC, Galler R, Freire MS

Programa de Vacinas Virais, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. lgaspar@bio.fiocruz.br

The successful Yellow Fever (YF) vaccine consists of the live attenuated 17D-204 or 17DD viruses. Despite its excellent record of efficacy and safety, serious adverse events have been recorded and influenced extensive vaccination in endemic areas. Therefore, alternative strategies should be considered, which may include inactivated whole virus. High hydrostatic pressure has been described as a method for viral inactivation and vaccine development. The present study evaluated whether high hydrostatic pressure would inactivate the YF 17DD virus. YF 17DD virus was grown in Vero cells in roller bottle cultures and subjected to 310MPa for 3h at 4 degrees C. This treatment abolished YF infectivity and eliminated the ability of the virus to cause disease in mice. Pressure-inactivated virus elicited low level of neutralizing antibody titers although exhibited complete protection against an otherwise lethal challenge with 17DD virus in the murine model. The data warrant further development of pressure-inactivated vaccine against YF.

Published 29 April 2008 in J Virol Methods, 150(1): 57-62.
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