Recent progress towards development of a Shigella vaccine

Abstract

The burden of dysentery due to shigellosis among children in the developing world is still a major concern. A safe and efficacious vaccine against this disease is a priority, since no licensed vaccine is available. This review provides an update of vaccine achievements focusing on subunit vaccine strategies and the forthcoming strategies surrounding this approach. In particular, this review explores several aspects of the pathogenesis of shigellosis and the elicited immune response as being the basis of vaccine requirements. The use of appropriate Shigella antigens, together with the right adjuvants, may offer safety, efficacy and more convenient delivery methods for massive worldwide vaccination campaigns.

Keywords::

• adjuvants
• mucosal delivery
• nanoparticles
• Shigella
• subunit vaccines

Financial & competing interests disclosure

This work was financially supported by the Health Department of “Gobierno de Navarra” (28/2007) and “Instituto Salud Carlos III” (PS09/01083 and PI070326), from Spain. A Camacho was also financially supported by “Instituto de Salud Carlos III” (FI08/00432). The authors have 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.