• R Bodewes, J H C M Kreijtz, G van Amerongen, M M Geelhoed-Mieras, R J Verburgh, J G M Heldens, J Bedwell, J M A van den Brand, T Kuiken, C A van Baalen, R A M Fouchier, A D M E Osterhaus, and G F Rimmelzwaan.
• Department of Virology, Erasmus Medical Center, Dr Molewaterplein 50, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA Rotterdam, Netherlands.
• J. Virol. 2010 Aug 1; 84 (16): 7943-52.

AbstractHighly pathogenic avian influenza A viruses of the H5N1 subtype continue to circulate in poultry, and zoonotic transmissions are reported frequently. Since a pandemic caused by these highly pathogenic viruses is still feared, there is interest in the development of influenza A/H5N1 virus vaccines that can protect humans against infection, preferably after a single vaccination with a low dose of antigen. Here we describe the induction of humoral and cellular immune responses in ferrets after vaccination with a cell culture-derived whole inactivated influenza A virus vaccine in combination with the novel adjuvant CoVaccine HT. The addition of CoVaccine HT to the influenza A virus vaccine increased antibody responses to homologous and heterologous influenza A/H5N1 viruses and increased virus-specific cell-mediated immune responses. Ferrets vaccinated once with a whole-virus equivalent of 3.8 microg hemagglutinin (HA) and CoVaccine HT were protected against homologous challenge infection with influenza virus A/VN/1194/04. Furthermore, ferrets vaccinated once with the same vaccine/adjuvant combination were partially protected against infection with a heterologous virus derived from clade 2.1 of H5N1 influenza viruses. Thus, the use of the novel adjuvant CoVaccine HT with cell culture-derived inactivated influenza A/H5N1 virus antigen is a promising and dose-sparing vaccine approach warranting further clinical evaluation.

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