Past, present and future therapeutic and prophylactic strategies against arenaviruses responsible of human hemorrhagic fever

Scène_Virus-attaque

Amélie D Zaza 1Cécile H Herbreteau 2Christophe N Peyrefitte 3Sébastien F Emonet 3

Abstract

For most viral hemorrhagic fevers caused by arenaviruses, no prophylactic vaccine is available yet. Only one therapeutic treatment is currently available and should be administered at the early stages of the infection. This is particularly problematic as these diseases are difficult to diagnose and cure. Lassa fever is the most important pathology caused by arenaviruses, including millions of people at risk in West Africa. For decades, promising studies focusing on the development of vaccine candidates targeting Lassa virus have been published, but no vaccine candidate had reached the clinical phase. The second arenavirus in terms of number of human infections is the Junín virus in Argentina. The Junín infected case number has drastically decreased since the use of the Candid #1 vaccine. This review summarizes past and present experimental studies regarding treatments against arenaviruses responsible for human hemorrhagic fevers from a prophylactic and therapeutic point of view. It also discusses future breakthroughs to get available and effective treatments.

Keywords: antiviral; arenaviruses; immunotherapy; vaccine candidate.

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Affiliations

  • 1Fab’entech, 24 rue Jean Baldassini Bat B 69007 Lyon, France, Institut de recherche biomédicale des armées, Unité de virologie, 1 place Valérie André 91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France.
  • 2Fab’entech, 24 rue Jean Baldassini Bat B 69007 Lyon, France.
  • 3Institut de recherche biomédicale des armées, Unité de virologie, 1 place Valérie André 91220 Brétigny-sur-Orge, France.