title: Chikungunya virus and prospects for a vaccine.
abstract: In 2004, chikungunya virus (CHIKV) re-emerged from East Africa to cause devastating epidemics of debilitating and often chronic arthralgia that have affected millions of people in the Indian Ocean Basin and Asia. More limited epidemics initiated by travelers subsequently occurred in Italy and France, as well as human cases exported to most regions of the world, including the Americas where CHIKV could become endemic. Because CHIKV circulates during epidemics in an urban mosquito-human cycle, control of transmission relies on mosquito abatement, which is rarely effective. Furthermore, there is no antiviral treatment for CHIKV infection and no licensed vaccine to prevent disease. Here, we discuss the challenges to the development of a safe, effective and affordable chikungunya vaccine and recent progress toward this goal.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Human Infections and Immunity, Sealy Center for Vaccine Development and Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA. sweaver@utmb.edu
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Weaver
authors.forename: Jorge E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Osorio
authors.forename: Jill A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Livengood
authors.forename: Rubing
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Dan T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Stinchcomb
mesh_terms: D018354:Alphavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D065632:Chikungunya Fever; D002646:Chikungunya virus / Q000276:immunology*; D055808:Drug Discovery / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D014765:Viral Vaccines