Title : The challenges and status of vaccine development for Clostridioides difficile infection
Abstract:
Clostridioides difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming and toxin-producing anaerobic bacterium. It is the most common cause of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea and the etiologic agent of life-threatening pseudomembranous colitis in the developed world. In the US, C. difficile infection (CDI) caused 223,900 estimated hospitalizations,12,800 deaths and $5 billion healthcare costs in 2017. A continual rise in severe CDI has been observed worldwide. C. difficile is intrinsically resistant to many antibiotics, limiting treatment options. Currently, very limited antibiotics are available for the treatment of CDI, and none of them is fully effective with a recurrence rate of 15-35%. Prevention and treatment of recurrence is one of the major challenges in the field. CDI symptoms range from diarrhea to intestinal inflammation/lesion and death, and are mainly caused by two exotoxins TcdA and TcdB. Active vaccination provides the attractive opportunity to prevent CDI and recurrence. No vaccine against CDI is currently licensed. Tremendous efforts have been devoted to developing vaccines targeting both toxins. However, ideally, vaccines should target both toxins and C. difficile cells / spores that transmit the disease and cause recurrence. Furthermore, C. difficile is an enteric pathogen, and mucosal/oral immunization would be particularly useful to protect the host against CDI considering that the gut is the main site of disease onset and progression. This talk will review current progress and remaining challenges in the field of C. difficile vaccines.
What will audience learn from your presentation?
- Pathogenesis of C. difficile infection
- Why it is important to develop vaccines against CDI?
- The challenges to develop an effective vaccine against CDI.
- The current status of vaccine development for C. difficile