Scientists: yellow fever vaccine may help against COVID-19

The team, led by Prof. Johan Neitz and Dr. Kai Dallmeier, began development in January

Trials have identified one vaccine that appears to work particularly wellAfter this vaccine was administered, the virus was no longer present or barely detectable in experimental animals.

In hamsters that received the vaccine candidate, scientists observed up to half a million times less viral infection than in hamsters from control groups.What's more, even a single dose of the candidate vaccine was enough to protect againstInfection.

Candidate vaccine was made on the basis ofexisting yellow fever vaccine. It is capable of eliciting an immune response in both COVID-19 and yellow fever in experimental animals. Part of the genetic code of the SARS-CoV-2 virus was included in the yellow fever vaccine. The team has already used this platform to create candidate vaccines against Ebola, Zika, and rabies.

The yellow fever vaccine has already proven its effectiveness more than once, they emphasizeIt has been in use for about eighty years, and in that time800 million people have been vaccinated.Of the more than 160 vaccines being developed to fight COVID-19, virologists at KU Leuven are the only ones usingyellow fever as a basis.

To choose the most effective of the eight prototype vaccines, they not only tested which prototype generatedHamsters have the most antibodies, but which one also providesThis increases the effectiveness of the protection against infection.Scientists' chances of finding the most successful candidate for the role of a life-saving vaccine.

Candidate vaccine stimulates the bodyproduce antibodies against coronavirus, thereby preventing the virus from adhering to healthy cells. Scientists conclude that the yellow fever vaccine also works against COVID-19.

Given that the experimental vaccine froma research laboratory cannot just be introduced to people; a specialized company accredited for this purpose must now produce a candidate vaccine. The team is currently in talks with manufacturing partners.

Scientists hope that the first human clinical trials will begin by winter.

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