Preclinical testing of lassa fever, rabies vaccine shows promise

An international collection of scientists have developed a new vaccine with the potential to shield people from both Lassa fever and rabies, and the drug has proven successful in preclinical testing.

Known as LASSARAB, the vaccine utilizes a weakened rabies carrier injected with genetic material from Lassa virus. The surface proteins of these become expressed when brought together, meaning that an immune response is prompted against both — a system which has proven successful in both mice and guinea pigs. The researchers next hope to experiment on nonhuman primates before the possibility of human clinical trials.

While there are rabies vaccines and treatments, no vaccines currently exist for Lassa fever. Both conditions remain a serious problem for Africa.

The scientists involved have come from the Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia; the University of Minho in Braga, Portugal; the University of California, San Diego; and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Their findings were recently published in Nature Communications.