Dengue immunity antibodies identified. They will be useful for drugs and vaccines.

Following a large cohort of children in the Philippines, researchers at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases have linked a class of antibodies to immunity against the dengue virus after natural infection or vaccination. Their work, published in Science Translational Medicine , helps answer a long-standing question in the field of dengue immunity and provides crucial data for future research on more effective vaccines.

Dengue is one of the world's most widespread viral diseases, posing a risk to as many as four billion people in tropical and subtropical regions, but it is also spreading to previously unaffected areas due to rising temperatures. Although there are two licensed dengue vaccines (Dengvaxia and QDENGA), neither offers effective protection to people who have not already contracted the virus naturally. Furthermore, research suggests that vaccination may make some people more vulnerable to certain dengue serotypes, a factor that led to the discontinuation of Dengvaxia in the Philippines. There is a desperate need for more effective vaccines that protect against all dengue serotypes, as well as further research into the mechanisms of dengue immunity and the potential correlates of protection.

In this study, Patrick Mpingabo and colleagues selected and followed two cohorts of children in Cebu province, Philippines, during a mass vaccination campaign with Dengvaxia in 2017. One hundred and sixty-four children received Dengvaxia, while 88 remained unvaccinated. The researchers measured the children's antibody profiles and focused on antibodies targeting the envelope dimer epitope (EDE), a conserved structure on the dengue virion. The analysis revealed that children who had had at least two dengue infections harbored high levels of anti-EDE antibodies, capable of neutralizing all four major dengue serotypes.

Anti-EDE antibodies were mostly absent in children with only a single prior infection, but increased after secondary infections or vaccination. Finally, Mpingabo and colleagues linked anti-EDE antibodies to a lower risk of dengue symptoms and a milder form of the disease, suggesting that these antibodies could be useful as correlates of protection and as future vaccine or drug candidates.