Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination

    Med Immunol. 2005 Mar 24;4(1):4.

    Anthrax vaccine design: strategies to achieve comprehensive protection against spore, bacillus, and toxin.

    Wang JY, Roehrl MH.

    Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. julia_wang@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.

    The successful use of Bacillus anthracis as a lethal biological weapon has prompted renewed research interest in the development of more effective vaccines against anthrax. The disease consists of three critical components: spore, bacillus, and toxin, elimination of any of which confers at least partial protection against anthrax. Current remedies rely on postexposure antibiotics to eliminate bacilli and pre- and postexposure vaccination to target primarily toxins. Vaccines effective against toxin have been licensed for human use, but need improvement. Vaccines against bacilli have recently been developed by us and others. Whether effective vaccines will be developed against spores is still an open question. An ideal vaccine would confer simultaneous protection against spores, bacilli, and toxins. One step towards this goal is our dually active vaccine, designed to destroy both bacilli and toxin. Existing and potential strategies towards potent and effective anthrax vaccines are discussed in this review.

    PMID: 15790405 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

    PMCID: 1079933

    Supplemental Content

    Click here to read Click here to read

    Patient drug information

    • Anthrax Vaccine (Biothrax®)

      Anthrax is a serious disease that can affect both animals and humans. It is caused by bacteria calledBacillus anthracis. People can get anthrax from contact with infected animals, wool, meat, or hides. In its most common...