News – Bethesda, Md. – A new vaccine development platform has proved effective in protecting against deadly, difficult-to-treat multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, thanks to a collaborative effort led by Dr. Michael J. Daly, professor in the Uniform Services Department of Pathology University (USU), Dr. Gregory J. Tobin, president of Biological Mimetics, Inc., and Dr. Daniel Zurawski of the Walter Reed Army Research Institute. This may help prevent battle infections, as well as common hospital-acquired infections in patients undergoing routine surgery.
This research, “Radiation-Inactive Acinetobacter baumannii Vaccine candidates were published in the journal Vaccines, January 27, as part of a special issue of ‘Vaccines for Infectious and Harmful Diseases’ and is available online: Summary: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/9/2/96; PDF version: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-393X/9/2/96/pdf
The rapid vaccine development platform, which has now been proven to be highly effective against MDR bacteria, has also recently been used to develop protective vaccines against RNA viruses: Venezuelan Horse Encephalitis Virus, Chickungunja Virus , and Sabin polioviruses. Importantly, the USU platform developed by the Daly team could be rapidly adapted to generate fully inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.
The MDR A. baumannii bacteria became a major threat to U.S. troops during the Gulf War. The bacteria cause a range of life-threatening illnesses including pneumonia, septicemia, and wound infections, but there are few treatment options when it comes to MDR-bacteria. Since then, the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed A. baumannii in the highest category of pathogens that pose a threat to human health. Today in the U.S., about 45,000 hospitals have been admitted A. baumannii diseases each year, and about one million worldwide.
“This will be of great benefit not only to members of our service, as it can prevent trauma-related infections following a battlefield injury, but also to the general public, who are often exposed. to this MDR pathogen in civilian hospital settings, ”said Daly.
Funding for this study was provided through the STTR Phase II HDTRA 1-17-C-0030 contract from the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Risk Reduction Agency (DTRA) to BMI, Inc. with USU as a U.S. Government partner, governed by the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF).
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About University of Health Sciences Uniform Services: The University of Health Sciences Uniform Services, founded by an act of Congress in 1972, is then a federal health science university and the academic heart of the Military Health System. USUstudents in particular are duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who receive specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, TBI and PTSD, disaster and humanitarian aid, global health, and severe trauma care. USU also has graduate graduates in oral biology, biochemical sciences and public health who are committed to research excellence. The University’s research program covers a wide range of areas important to military and republican health. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.