<br/>The need for vaccine stabilization is critical for supplying vaccines to the developing world as well as stockpiling in the developed world. Recently outbreaks of Yellow Fever in Angola and South America have exhausted vaccine supplies in part due to their lack of stability. Other flaviviruses, such as Zika and Dengue are emerging diseases for which there are either no or only partially effective vaccines. We are exploring the use of silica as a stabilizing agent high temperatures and dry conditions. In previous research, Yellow Fever Vaccine was reversibly coated with silica and reversibly inactivated. Other research has shown that silicified polio vaccine remained infectious at room temperature for 60 days while the non-treated virus lasted only 12 days. We are currently testing silica treatment on flaviviruses including Yellow Fever, Dengue, and Zika. This family of viruses is prevalent in tropical regions where vaccine delivery is limited and there is a lack of resources to keep vaccines cold in order to preserve viability. We have shown that all of these viruses lose their infectivity when exposed to a 600 ppm silica solution for 24 hours. We are testing the reversibility of this inactivation and the availability of surface epitopes on these viruses to antibodies. This research ultimately aims to develop thermostable vaccines, particularly for flaviviruses.

Using silica to stabilize flavivirus vaccines

2019 Spring National Meeting

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