EV71 vaccines: a first step towards multivalent hand, foot and mouth disease vaccines

Abstract

Enterovirus A infections are the primary cause of hand, foot and mouth disease in infants and young children. Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 have emerged as neurotropic viruses responsible for severe neurological complications and a serious public health threat across the Asia-Pacific region. Formalin-inactivated EV71 vaccines have elicited protection against EV71 but not against coxsackievirus A16 infections. The development of a bivalent formalin-inactivated EV71/FI coxsackievirus A16 vaccine should be the next step towards that of multivalent hand, foot and mouth disease vaccines which should ultimately include other prevalent pathogenic coxsackieviruses and echovirus 30. This editorial summarizes the major challenges faced by the development of hand, foot and mouth disease vaccines.

Keywords:

• coxsackieviruses A16, A6, A10
• cross-neutralizing antibody
• Enterovirus 71
• hand foot and mouth diseases
• human enteroviruses A
• vaccines

Financial & competing interests disclosure

M Klein is currently Chairman of VaxiBio Inc. He is a former Professor of Immunology at the University of Toronto and the former Corporate Vice-President Science and Technology at Aventis Pasteur (now Sanofi Pasteur). He is paid as consultant to various Scientific Boards. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.