A new coronavirus, most likely spilled over from an animal species, has plunged us into the third epidemic of this kind in the last twenty years, against which there were neither vaccines nor therapies. While we argue over the future of humanity, vulnerable to the ecological and environmental degradation that has enabled the pandemic, extraordinary technologies have been developed to combat infectious diseases. In just eleven months it was possible to develop, test and produce the vaccines that are gradually enabling us to escape the SARS-CoV-2 nightmare. In addition, with the legacy of the technologies developed against COVID-19, we will be able to overcome antimicrobial resistance—a slow but inexorable pandemic. As vaccinologists are churning out increasingly precise and effective solutions, vaccine acceptance seems to be receding. Outbreaks of preventable diseases have prompted the health authorities of several countries to make childhood vaccinations mandatory again. Much remains to be done, but a public capable of distinguishing authoritative voices from misleading ones will be able to enjoy the vaccines of tomorrow more widely. Vaccines in the Global Era is an easy-to-read book that can be read by virtually anyone who wants to learn about the importance, effectiveness and safety of vaccines in preventing infectious diseases. Vaccines are cheap, save countless lives, and are more effective than the best medicines. Let's try to make the best use of them for the health of the people and animals living together on this beautiful planet.
Author(s): Rino Rappuoli, Lisa Vozza
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 265
City: London
Contents
About the Authors
Introduction
1 Old and New Epidemics
The greatest existing monument to the destructive force of infectious diseases
Pandemics in history and today
We can defend ourselves from microbes
A vaccine is a bit like a flight simulator
2 The Long History of Vaccines
For ancient ills, ancient remedies: Variolation
Lady Montagu and smallpox in the Old Continent
Cows and milkmaids
The causes of infectious diseases
The legacy of Robert Koch
Attenuated germs
Rabid bites
Harmless toxins and pathogens
Polio and mass vaccinations
Towards eradication
3 Listen to This
Do we know how to evaluate the risks?
Safety and surveillance
(False) vaccine alert
What is autism?
Mercury in vaccines: Why?
Studies on vaccines, mercury, and autism
Are multiple vaccines given together safe?
Politicians, actors, and media against vaccines
The search for causes and treatments of autism spectrum disorders
Mercury is taken out of vaccines!
Fraud and manipulation
On the run from vaccinations
Are vaccines victims of their own success?
The decline in herd immunity and the return to mandatory vaccination
The Burioni phenomenon
Getting vaccinated is better
4 Chasing Moving Targets
Recombinant vaccines: The case of hepatitis B
Computer-designed vaccines: The case of whooping cough
Conjugate vaccines: The case of hæmophilus
The genomic revolution
A revolutionary strategy against meningococcal meningitis
The impossible challenge overcome by vaccinologists
2,000 theoretical proteins
600 membrane or secreted proteins
344 purified proteins
91 immunogenic proteins
28 bactericidal antigens
5 antigens conserved by evolution in all strains
An interesting discovery
Reverse vaccinology, or the art of making vaccines backwards
Reverse vaccinology 2.0 and vaccines for pregnancy
5 Vaccines Wanted Against Four Big Killers
Why is there still no HIV vaccine?
Attempts to make an HIV vaccine
A vaccine against malaria: Is it possible?
Attempts to make vaccines against malaria
Tuberculosis: It is time to develop a new vaccine
Attempts to fight TB with vaccines
Hepatitis C: Why drugs are not enough
No hope, high hopes?
6 Unpredictable Viruses: The Flu
What do we know about flu viruses?
The seasonal flu
Surveillance
Isolating the virus
The terrible four
From the viral genome sequence to the synthetic virus
From the synthetic virus to the master seed
Vaccines grown in eggs
Cellular vaccines
Recombinant vaccines
Vaccine purification
The addition of the adjuvant
End of production
How effective is the seasonal vaccine?
Influenza pandemics
The fear of the avian flu: An anti-pandemic test
The adjuvants
Is it possible to beat a flu pandemic on time with a vaccine?
Will there ever be a universal flu vaccine?
7 A Pandemic of Our Time
The COVID-19 numbers
The SARS-CoV-2 virus
COVID-19 syndrome and its complicated consequences
Contagion prevention and lockdown
Democracy and the Swiss cheese model
The coronavirus and us
Spillover
Escaped from a lab?
Our planet’s health is ours too
Our intimacy with animals
Cruise ships or slums?
Vaccines are an ecological and “green” solution for the elimination of infectious diseases
8 How to Vaccinate an Entire Planet Against COVID-19
Vaccines against COVID-19
mRNA vaccines
Vaccines with adenoviral vectors
Recombinant protein vaccines
Inactivated vaccines
The efficacy measured in clinical trials and effectiveness in the real world
A race made possible by …
The best research products do not come out of nowhere
The massive amount of money, mostly public, that has been invested in the development of the COVID-19 vaccines
No shortcuts were taken in safety and efficacy tests (at least in countries where transparency is the rule)
Postvaccination surveillance
How protected are we from SARS-CoV-2 and its variants after vaccinations?
How to put SARS-CoV-2 virus in jail
Can people be vaccinated with doses of different vaccines?
How monoclonal antibodies contributed to the vaccines and to the fight against COVID-19
The logistical challenges of vaccine production ,distribution and mass administration
How to convince the hesitant?
Will it be possible to vaccinate an entire planet against COVID-19?
Would a patent waiver on vaccines really accelerate the rate of immunization in the whole world?
Communication in the time of COVID-19
9 Vaccines for Whom?
Will we win antimicrobial resistance?
Vaccines for the elderly
More affordable vaccines for poor countries
The great alliance
Philanthropists committed to infectious diseases
When the for-profit sector also does nonprofit
The last mile
What challenges will vaccinology face after COVID-19?
Appendix: How Do Our Defenses Work?
Physical barriers
Defenses beyond the walls
Conventional weapons we are born with
Molecular communication
Circulation and postal service
Generators of molecular diversity
Defenses on demand
The role of antibodies
Viral pieces on display
Virus hunters
Immunological memories
Safety systems and inhibitory brakes
Let us summarize
Dispelling 7 Myths
1. Vaccines can be useful, but they are dangerous.
2. Some vaccines can cause autism.
3. Childhood diseases are mild and not very dangerous :getting vaccinated is pointless.
4. You can safely delay vaccinating your child until preschool.
5. If multiple vaccinations are administered with a single injection, they can damage the immune system.
6. Many vaccines are no longer needed because the diseases they protect against have virtually disappeared.
7. COVID-19 vaccines have been developed too quickly to be safe.
Maybe You Did Not Know That …
Microbes have immense power to devastate civilizations as we know them.
Vaccines are an extraordinary reason for optimism about our abilities to defend ourselves against infections.
Vaccines help our defenses do a better job.
Vaccines are far more effective than the best existing medicines.
In poor countries, vaccines are the most efficient way to “buy” health and prosperity.
More than one technological revolution is underway in the art of building vaccines.
Thanks to the prevention of childhood diseases around the world, more and more people are enjoying a long life with their children and grand
children.
Any new vaccine arrives in developing countries with an average delay of a few decades, compared to the richest nations.
An international alliance is increasing access to vaccinations in the poorest countries.
Most of the vaccines used in the world are produced in just nine countries.
Vaccine safety: A challenge for the mind.
Further Reading
Old and new epidemics
The long history of vaccines
Listen to this
Chasing moving targets
Vaccines wanted against four big killers
Unpredictable viruses: The flu
A pandemic of our time
How to vaccinate an entire planet against COVID-19
Vaccines for whom?
How do our defenses work?
Index
