Why a MERS vaccine won?t be easy

[Gert van der Hoek]

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

Why a MERS vaccine won’t be easy?

Two years ago, the virus didn’t even have a name. A year ago it had infected roughly 50 people, half of whom died. Now, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome has been confirmed in more than 600 people, and killed nearly 30 percent of its victims.

Originating on the Arabian Peninsula, MERS has been carried via travelers to the United States (two reported cases), North Africa, and Malaysia, as well as a handful of European countries.

Adding urgency to the anxiety, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in early October will draw more than a million people through the city of Jeddah, the outbreak’s “ground zero.”

With other dangerous diseases, like smallpox, polio, and measles, vaccines provide protection and stop transmission. So why can’t we just vaccinate people against MERS and wipe the disease out before it spreads further?

Although the science of making a vaccine against MERS is feasible—unlike, say, HIV, which has stymied researchers for decades—neither the market economy nor the vaccine development process is likely to support it, experts say.

Camels are our best hope, Lipkin said. Instead of vaccinating people against MERS, the focus should shift to vaccinating camels, which appear to be a crucial point of transmission. “If you eliminate camels as a reservoir, I think you’d have a reasonable shot of getting this under control,” he said.

Developing a vaccine for camels would be cheaper, faster, and easier than developing one for people, he said, without the same level of safety concerns. He thinks it’s possible to get a vaccine into camels even before October’s hajj pilgrimage.

Read more: Vaccinews