Virus Diseases: The Global Challenge to Health for All. Proceeding of the Asia-Pacific Congress of Medical Virology (2nd), Held in Bangkok, Thailand on November 17-22 1991

摘要

Through the development and use of vaccines, many virus diseases have beenbrought under control. The current conventional vaccines consist either of infectious, attenuated viruses or of noninfectious killed viruses or subviral antigens. Thus far, it is the live vaccines that have yielded the greatest successes in controlling and even eradicating diseases. Historical landmarks in the development of vaccines for virus diseases of humans span almost two centuries, beginning with Jenner's demonstration in 1798 that a mild disease, produced by design with one virus, could protect against more virulent disease caused by a related agent. A momentous recent achievement was the licensing in 1982 of a hepatitis B vaccine consisting of subviral particles prepared from plasma of chronic virus carriers, and subsequently from yeast expressing a recombinant gene of hepatitis B virus. Other potential vaccines are under investigation. Their development is based on genetic manipulation, nucleic acid sequencing, and monoclonal antibody availability.