SYNTHESIS OF A DIVERSITY OF FRAGMENTS FROM THE SHIGELLA SONNEI POLYSACCHARIDE ANTIGENS

摘要

Shigellosis is a major public health concern worldwide and one of the top causative agents of death in children under 5 years of age. Epidemiological data still call for an effective vaccine against Shigella, especially against Shigella sonnei [1]. A S. sonnei polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine was immunogenic in children younger than three years but failed to induce protection in the one to three year cohort [2]. Otherwise, a synthetic-based carbohydrate conjugate vaccine against S. flexneri 2a [3] was demonstrated to be strongly immunogenic in human (see abstract by L. A. Mulard). This attractive strategy is now extended to S. sonnei as a possible alternative to the use of polysaccharides purified from bacterial cell culture.