[Antiviral vaccines]

Vaccination has been successful in controlling numerous diseases in man and animals. Smallpox has been eradicated and poliomyelitis is on the verge of being eradicated. The traditional immunization arsenal includes vaccines using live, attenuated, and inactivated organisms. DNA recombinant technology has added two new types of vaccines, i.e. subunit vaccines based on purified antigens produced by genetic engineering in bacterial, yeast, or animal-cell cultures and live recombinant vaccines based on attenuated bacterial or viral vectors. Currently the best known examples of these new vaccines are those using poxvirus vectors (vaccinia virus, canarypox virus, or fowlpox virus) but new vectors are under development. Another application for genetic engineering in the field of vaccinology is the development of DNA vaccines using naked plasmid DNA. This technique has achieved remarkable results in small rodents but its efficacy, safety, and feasibility in man has yet to be demonstrated. Numerous studies are now under way to improve the process. In the field of synthetic vaccines, lipopeptides have shown promise for induction of cell immune response. Development of vaccines for administration by the oral or nasal route may one day revolutionize vaccination techniques. However, effective vaccines against hepatitis C and HIV have stalled in the face of the complexity and pathophysiology of these diseases. These are the greatest challenges confronting scientists at the dawn of the new millennium.