Tularemia vaccine development: paralysis or progress?

Abstract:

Francisella tularensis (Ft) is a gram-negative intercellular pathogen and category A biothreat agent. However, despite 15 years of strong government investment and intense research focused on the development of a US Food and Drug Administration-approved vaccine against Ft, the primary goal remains elusive. This article reviews research efforts focused on developing an Ft vaccine, as well as a number of important factors, some only recently recognized as such, which can significantly impact the development and evaluation of Ft vaccine efficacy. Finally, an assessment is provided as to whether a US Food and Drug Administration-approved Ft vaccine is likely to be forthcoming and the potential means by which this might be achieved.

Keywords::

• Sex bias
• media impact
• differential protection
• cellular immunity
• humoral immunity

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (PO1 AI056320 and RO1 AI100138). The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.