Host Populations, Challenges, and Commercialization of Cryptococcal Vaccines

Overview

Journal PLoS Pathog

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2023 Feb 9

PMID 36757929

Authors

Maurizio Del Poeta

Floyd L Wormley Jr

Xiaorong Lin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Vaccines are one of the most effective public health tools to prevent and manage infectious diseases. Since the first clinical use of vaccines in the late 18th century, many vaccines have been successfully developed to combat bacterial and viral infections, including the most recent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, there remains no vaccine that is clinically available to treat or prevent invasive fungal diseases, including cryptococcal meningoencephalitis. This fungal disease is uniformly fatal without treatment and has a global mortality rate of over 70%. Despite a dire need for an effective cryptococcal vaccine, there are many scientific and economic challenges to overcome prior to making it a reality. Here, we discuss some of these challenges as well as steps that the community is taking for commercialization of effective cryptococcal vaccines.

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