• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.33.1-33.13
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• 2023

Vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been acknowledged as an effective mean of preventing infection and hospitalization. However, the emergence of highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) has led to substantial increase in infections among children and adolescents. Vaccine-induced immunity and longevity have not been well defined in this population. Therefore, we aimed to analyze humoral and cellular immune responses against ancestral and SARS-CoV-2 variants after two shots of the BNT162b2 vaccine in healthy adolescents. Although vaccination induced a robust increase of spike-specific binding Abs and neutralizing Abs against the ancestral and SARS-CoV-2 variants, the neutralizing activity against the Omicron variant was significantly low. On the contrary, vaccine-induced memory CD4⁺ T cells exhibited substantial responses against both ancestral and Omicron spike proteins. Notably, CD4⁺ T cell responses against both ancestral and Omicron strains were preserved at 3 months after two shots of the BNT162b2 vaccine without waning. Polyfunctionality of vaccine-induced memory T cells was also preserved in response to Omicron spike protein. The present findings characterize the protective immunity of vaccination for adolescents in the era of continuous emergence of variants/subvariants.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.242-250
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• 2006

Haemophilus influenzae type b(Hib) conjugate vaccines prevent Hib disease in individuals and reduce the carriage and transmission of the organism in the community. The incidence of Hib disease has been decreased dramatically in a diverse range of countries through the use of a variety of conjugate vaccines and vaccine schedules. In some countries, the vaccine has caused a near-disappearance of invasive Hib disease through a combination of direct protection and herd immunity. The effectiveness of the vaccine was not modified by the type of conjugate vaccine, the number of doses given(two, three or four), age at first vaccination(two months, 42 to 90 days, three months) and whether the vaccine was tested in an industrialized or developing country. Over 15 years of international experience with vaccines has also demonstrated that they are safe. In 2004, Hib vaccines were adapted in routine immunization in 92 countries in the world. Decisions regarding the use of the Hib vaccine in routine immunization schedules depend not only on the effectiveness and efficacy of the vaccine but also on factors such as burden of disease, vaccine cost, and competing priorities. In Korea, Hib disease burden seemed to be lower than other developed countries(~10/100,000). Moreover Hib vaccines showed excellent immunogenicity in Korean children in many studies. Therefore, a potential approach to economize the cost of Hib vaccines could be to explore the possibilities of using reduced vaccine doses for immunization as some other countries.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.227-232
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• 2015

Akabane and bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) viruses cause vector-borne diseases. In this study, inactivated Akabane virus (AKAV)+Bovine ephemeral fever virus (BEFV) vaccines with or without recombinant vibrio flagellin (revibFlaB) protein were expressed in a baculovirus expression system to measure their safety and immunogenicity. Blood was collected from mice, guinea pigs, sows, and cattle that had been inoculated with the vaccine twice. Inactivated AKAV+BEFV vaccine induced high virus neutralizing antibody (VNA) titer against AKAV and BEFV in mice and guinea pigs. VNA titers against AKAV were higher in mice and guinea pigs immunized with the inactivated AKAV+BEFV vaccine than in animals inoculated with vaccine containing revibFlaB protein. Inactivated AKAV+BEFV vaccine elicited slightly higher VNA titers against AKAV and BEFV than the live AKAV and live BEFV vaccines in mice and guinea pigs. In addition, the inactivated AKAV+BEFV vaccine was safe, and induced high VNA titers, ranging from 1 : 64 to 1 : 512, against both AKAV and BEFV in sows and cattle. Moreover, there were no side effects observed in any treated animals. These results indicate that the inactivated AKAV+BEFV vaccine could be used in cattle with high immunogenicity and good safety.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.221-229
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• 2009

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is the most contagious disease of mammals. The use of inactivated vaccine can be chosen to prevent or control FMD. However, vaccination against one serotype of FMDV doses not cross-protect against other serotypes and may not protect fully against some strains of the same serotype. Appropriate selection of vaccine strain is an important element in the control of FMD. The immunity of vaccine antigens should be matched against newly circulating viruses. The phylogenetic analysis of serotype Asia1 reported from China, Mongolia, North Korea and Russia since 2005 shows that they are all classified into genetic group V, but the strain, Asia1/Shamir (ISR/89) which have been used as a vaccine strain in Korea, is clustered into different genetic group. So, in this study the serological relationship between the isolate (Asia1/MOG/05; MOG) and the Shamir strain was determined by ELISA and virus neutralization test. Even though the matching value of the virus (MOG) against the vaccinated sera in target animals was not so high, the vaccinated animals elicited antibodies enough for protection after vaccinated once or twice. Conclusively, we suggest that the vaccine containing Asia1/Shamir antigen could protect the genetic group V strains circulating in East Asia currently if vaccinated twice or the more.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.28-34
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• 2024

Purpose: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly formidable disease. Globally, multiple vaccines have been developed to prevent and manage this disease. However, the periodic mutations of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 variants cast doubt on the effectiveness of commonly used vaccines in mitigating severe disease in the Indian population. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the BBV152 vaccine and ChAdOx1-S vaccine in preventing severe forms of the disease. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study, based on hospital records, was conducted on 204 vaccinated COVID-19 patients using a consecutive sampling approach. Data on their vaccination status, comorbidities, and high-resolution computed tomography lung reports' computed tomography severity scores were extracted from their medical records. Fisher's exact test and binomial logistic regression analysis were employed to assess the independent associations of various factors with the dependent variables. Results: Of the 204 records, 57.9% represented males, with a mean age of 61.5±9.8 years. Both vaccines demonstrated effective protection against severe illness (90.2%), with BBV152 offering slightly better protection compared to ChAdOx1-S. Male gender, partial vaccination, comorbid conditions, and the type of vaccine were identified as independent predictors of severe lung involvement. Conclusion: This study indicates that both vaccines were highly effective (90%) in preventing severe forms of the disease in fully vaccinated individuals. When comparing the two vaccines, BBV152 was slightly more effective than ChAdOx1-S in preventing severe COVID-19.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.431-432
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• 2020

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been going on for nearly a year. As of December 1, 2020, more than 60 million confirmed cases and 1.4 million deaths have occurred in 220 countries and territories. There is no effective treatment for COVID-19 so far, and vaccines are being developed. However, the vaccine of COVID-19 can be freed from COVID-19 only if there are positive answers to some questions: "Aren't there any major side effects from the vaccine?"; "Is the vaccine effective for enough time?"; "Does the vaccine sufficiently reduce the mortality rate?"; and "Does the vaccine sufficiently reduce the reproduction number?" The fight against COVID-19 will continue for a long time. Therefore, we need to respond by developing the evidence for control of COVID-19, the emerging infectious disease. Extensive quarantine measures in the early stages of COVID-19 need to be elaborated through developing the evidence. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency should establish a database for evidence developing COVID-19 control. In this database, based on more than 3 million tested individuals, epidemiological investigation results, health insurance claims data, and government data such as the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, etc. should be linked. It is necessary to disclose this database to academia, etc. to create the evidences of COVID-19 and manage COVID-19 through these. And through the developed evidences, guidelines for physical health and mental health in the era of Corona 19 should be developed.

• BMB Reports
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.232-237
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• 2011

Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a major cause of upper and lower respiratory tract illness in infants and young children worldwide. Despite its importance as a respiratory pathogen, there is currently no licensed vaccine for prophylaxis of HRSV infection. There are several hurdles complicating the development of a RSV vaccine: 1) incomplete immunity to natural RSV infection leading to frequent re-infection, 2) immature immune system and maternal antibodies of newborn infants who are the primary subject population, and 3) imbalanced Th2-biased immune responses to certain vaccine candidates leading to exacerbated pulmonary disease. After the failure of an initial trial featuring formalin-inactivated virus as a RSV vaccine, more careful and deliberate efforts have been made towards the development of safe and effective RSV vaccines without vaccine-enhanced disease. A wide array of RSV vaccine strategies is being developed, including live-attenuated viruses, protein subunit-based, and vector-based candidates. Though licensed vaccines remain to be developed, our great efforts will lead us to reach the goal of attaining safe and effective RSV vaccines in the near future.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.110-117
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• 2022

Herpes zoster (HZ) has been reported in immunocompetent children who received the varicella vaccine. In vaccinated children, HZ can be caused by vaccine-strain or by wild-type varicella-zoster virus (VZV). Like wild-type VZV, varicella vaccine virus can establish latency and reactivate as HZ. We report two cases of HZ in otherwise healthy 16- and 14-month-old boys who received varicella vaccine at 12 months of age. They presented with a vesicular rash on their upper extremities three to four months after varicella vaccination. In one case, a swab was obtained by abrading skin vesicles and VZV was detected in skin specimens by polymerase chain reaction. The VZV open-reading frame 62 was sequenced and single nucleotide polymorphism analysis confirmed that the virus from skin specimen was vaccine-strain. This is the first HZ case following varicella vaccination confirmed to be caused by vaccine-strain VZV in the immunocompetent children in Korea. Pediatricians should be aware of the potential for varicella vaccine virus reactivation in vaccinated young children.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.4.1-4.18
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• 2021

The global outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is still threatening human health, economy, and social life worldwide. As a counteraction for this devastating disease, a number of vaccines are being developed with unprecedented speed combined with new technologies. As COVID-19 vaccines are being developed in the absence of a licensed human coronavirus vaccine, there remain further questions regarding the long-term efficacy and safety of the vaccines, as well as immunological mechanisms in depth. This review article discusses the current status of COVID-19 vaccine development, mainly focusing on antigen design, clinical trials in later stages, and immunological considerations for further study.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.301-310
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• 2005

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious disease of mammals and has a great potential for causing severe economic loss in susceptible cloven-hoofed animals, such as cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and buffalo. FMDV, a member of the Aphthovirus genus in the Picornaviridae family, is a non-enveloped icosahedral virus that contains a positive sense RNA of about 8.2 kb in size. The genome carries one open reading frame consisting of 3 regions: capsid protein coding region P1, replication related protein coding region P2, and RNA-dependent RNA polymerase coding region P3. FMDV infects pharynx epithelial cell in the respiratory tract and viral replication is active in lung epithelial cell. Morbidity is extremely high. A FMD outbreak in Korea in 2002 caused severe economic loss. Although intense research is undergoing to develop appropriate drugs to treat FMDV infection, there is no specific therapeutic for controlling FMDV infection. Moreover, there is an increasing demand for the development of vaccine strategies against FMDV infection in many countries. In this report, more effective prevention strategies against FMDV infection were reviewed.