Arizona State University researchers have demonstrated that they can make safer and more effective vaccines by using a new class of vaccines known as recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccines (RASV). The method uses a deactivated version of salmonella to deliver Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacteria that can cause pneumonia, ear infections, meningitis and bacteremia.
The researchers, led by Dr. Roy Curtiss, chief scientist at Biodesign's Center for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, found that mice injected with the engineered salmonella strain produced a strong antibody response and stronger immunity to Streptococcus pneumoniae than the control arm. The research was funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and was presented in the Journal of Immunology.
"Orally-administered RASVs stimulate all three branches of the immune system stimulating mucosal, humoral and cellular immunity that will be protective, in this case, against a majority of pneumococcal strains causing disease," explained Curtiss in a statement. The vaccine is currently in Phase I trials.
- here's the report