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The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced efforts to fast-track the testing of vaccines and therapeutics for Marburg following the recent outbreaks in Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea. Those trials should get underway soon, said WHO officials, as four or five of the 28 potential candidates already have doses ready. In the meantime, contact tracing, isolation, and supportive care are being used to prevent transmission in the countries. A lack of laboratory capacity in Equatorial Guinea has so far prevented the timely identification of cases, but the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention is working to provide technical support, as well as build infrastructure and capacity to improve testing, which will be important in upcoming trials.
Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned about the recent, rapid spread of the drug-resistant fungus Candida auris, or C. auris, in health care facilities and highlighted the serious risk the fungus poses to immunocompromised individuals. C. auris is resistant to typical antifungal treatments, and developing a vaccine for the fungus would likely take many years. There are currently no approved vaccines for any form of fungal infections. One vaccine candidate, being developed with support from the US National Institutes of Health, is designed to be cross-protective against several fungal pathogens, potentially including C. auris, although a phase 1 clinical trial is over a year away.
Executives at three of the world’s leading flu vaccine manufacturers—GSK, Moderna, and CSL Sequiris— have said that they are preparing the capacity to develop hundreds of millions of avian flu shots within months if a new strain of avian flu jumps to humans. The companies are already or will soon begin testing sample human vaccines that match the subtype currently circulating among birds and mammals. Sanofi has also expressed its readiness to begin production, alongside its stock of existing H5N1 vaccines. However, there is concern about how to ensure equitable global access to such vaccines in the case of an outbreak, given a substantial portion of doses are already reserved for wealthy countries through preexisting preparedness contracts.