Booster vaccination with newly developed vaccine against MERS-CoV leads to robust long-lasting immunity
Electron microscopic image of MERS-coronavirus particles.
Besides SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is among the highly pathogenic coronaviruses that can lead to severe respiratory disease and death. It is therefore classified by the World Health Organisation as particularly dangerous to public health. To be better prepared for future outbreaks, scientists at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) developed a recombinant vector-based vaccine—called MVA-MERS-S for short—and in the years 2017-2019 successfully tested a basic immunisation regime consisting of two vaccinations in the course of four weeks. Two studies have now demonstrated that a third booster vaccination with the MVA-MERS-S vaccine one year later results in a long-lasting immune response.
In the years 2017 to 2019, the MVA-MERS-S vaccine was tested in 23 healthy volunteers using a vaccination regime of two shots four weeks apart. In a follow-up study, the effect of a third booster vaccination on the quality and persistence of the immune response against MERS has now been investigated. The team led by UKE infectious disease researcher Dr. Anahita Fathi was able to demonstrate that the booster vaccination administered one year after basic immunisation is well tolerated and induces increased formation of binding and neutralising antibodies.
These results were confirmed by another study conducted by a research group led by scientists Leonie Marie Weskamm and Dr Christine Dahlke. The study shows that booster vaccination led to a significant increase in the number and persistence of spike protein-specific memory B cells as well as binding immunoglobulin G1 and neutralising antibodies, which could still be detected in vaccinated individuals two years after the booster.
"After three vaccinations, a long-lasting immune response against the MERS-CoV spike protein was observed in all subjects. The new vaccine and the MVA vector have the potential to be used as a prophylactic vaccine and a vaccine platform, respectively," says study lead Prof Marylyn Addo, DZIF scientist and Director of the Institute of Infection Research and Vaccine Development at UKE.
Source: Press release (in German) of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf.
