Eradicating infectious disease using weakly transmissible vaccines

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Scoot L. Nuismer, University of Idaho; Benjamin M. Althouse, University of Idaho; Ryan May, University of Idaho; James J. Bull, University of Texas; Sean P. Stromberg, Omniome Inc.; Rustom Antia, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2016-10-26
• Publisher: Royal Society, The
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.1903
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• ISSN: 0962-8452
• Volume: 283
• Issue: 1841
• Start Page: 20161903
• End Page: 20161903
• Grant/Funding Information: Funding was provided by NSF grant nos. DEB 1118947 and DEB 1450653 (S.L.N.), NSF Cooperative Agreement No. DBI-0939454 (J.J.B. and S.L.N.), NIH grant GM57756 (J.J.B.), NIH grant nos. U54 GM111274 and U19 AI117891 (R.A.), NIH grant no. GM122079 (S.L.N. and J.J.B.) and from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through the Global Good Fund, the Santa Fe Institute and the Omidyar Group (B.A.).
• Keywords: self-disseminating vaccine; herd immunity; genetic engineering; disease; vaccine; transmissible vaccine
• Research Categories: Biology, General; Biology, Bioinformatics

Abstract

Viral vaccines have had remarkable positive impacts on human health as well as the health of domestic animal populations. Despite impressive vaccine successes, however, many infectious diseases cannot yet be efficiently controlled or eradicated through vaccination, often because it is impossible to vaccinate a sufficient proportion of the population. Recent advances in molecular biology suggest that the centuries-old method of individual-based vaccine delivery may be on the cusp of a major revolution. Specifically, genetic engineering brings to life the possibility of a live, transmissible vaccine. Unfortunately, releasing a highly transmissible vaccine poses substantial evolutionary risks, including reversion to high virulence as has been documented for the oral polio vaccine. An alternative, and far safer approach, is to rely on genetically engineered and weakly transmissible vaccines that have reduced scope for evolutionary reversion. Here, we use mathematical models to evaluate the potential efficacy of such weakly transmissible vaccines. Our results demonstrate that vaccines with even a modest ability to transmit can significantly lower the incidence of infectious disease and facilitate eradication efforts. Consequently, weakly transmissible vaccines could provide an important tool for controlling infectious disease in wild and domestic animal populations and for reducing the risks of emerging infectious disease in humans.