Transfer of Anti-Rotavirus Antibodies during Pregnancy and in Milk Following Maternal Vaccination with a Herpes Simplex Virus Type-1 Amplicon Vector

Meier, Anita F.; Suter, Mark; Schraner, Elisabeth M.; Humbel, Bruno M.; Tobler, Kurt; Ackermann, Mathias; Laimbacher, Andrea S.

Although there are licensed RV vaccines available, their protective effect against severe RV induced diarrhea was found to be extremely region specific with a good efficiency in developed regions (90.6%). By contrast, in other regions, such as in sub-Saharan Africa, protection was only 46.1% [4] . Globally approved vaccines include either live attenuated (Rotarix, RV1; GlaxoSmithKline Inc., Rixensart, Belgium) or reassortant RV strains (RotaTeq, RV5; Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA). Hence, both vaccines are based on replicating viral strains and are thus not safe by nature. A case report from 2010 described the RV transmission from a RotaTeq vaccinated child to its unvaccinated sibling. This vaccine associated infection resulted in gastroenteritis that required emergency care. The transmitted RV strain was a reassorted vaccine-derived strain. Reassortment may have resulted in the recovery of virulence [5] . In addition, both RV vaccines were found to be associated with a slightly increased risk of intussusception after the primary vaccination [6] . Therefore, it is necessary to develop more efficient and in particular safer vaccines. Here, we present our findings on an alternative vaccine approach that ultimately aims to protect children from RV infection-associated symptoms in their early time of life.