Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-Review
There is little doubt that final victories over pandemics, such as COVID-19, are attributed to herd immunity, either through post-disease convalescence or active immunization of a high percentage of the world’s population with vaccines, which demonstrate protection from infection and transmission an...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-06-01
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| Series: | Viruses |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/6/1372 |
| _version_ | 1797592353168424960 |
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| author | Franz Tatzber Willibald Wonisch Ulrike Resch Wolfgang Strohmaier Meinrad Lindschinger Sabrina Mörkl Gerhard Cvirn |
| author_facet | Franz Tatzber Willibald Wonisch Ulrike Resch Wolfgang Strohmaier Meinrad Lindschinger Sabrina Mörkl Gerhard Cvirn |
| author_sort | Franz Tatzber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | There is little doubt that final victories over pandemics, such as COVID-19, are attributed to herd immunity, either through post-disease convalescence or active immunization of a high percentage of the world’s population with vaccines, which demonstrate protection from infection and transmission and are available in large quantities at reasonable prices. However, it is assumable that humans with immune defects or immune suppression, e.g., as a consequence of allograft transplantation, cannot be immunized actively nor produce sufficient immune responses to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections. These subjects desperately need other strategies, such as sophisticated protection measures and passive immunization. Hypertonic salt solutions attack vulnerable core areas of viruses; i.e., salt denatures surface proteins and thus prohibits virus penetration of somatic cells. It has to be ensured that somatic proteins are not affected by denaturation regarding this unspecific virus protection. Impregnating filtering facepieces with hypertonic salt solutions is a straightforward way to inactivate viruses and other potential pathogens. As a result of the contact of salt crystals on the filtering facepiece, these pathogens become denatured and inactivated almost quantitatively. Such a strategy could be easily applied to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and other ones that may occur in the future. Another possible tool to fight the COVID-19 pandemic is passive immunization with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, preferably from human origin. Such antibodies can be harvested from human patients’ sera who have successfully survived their SARS-CoV-2 infection. The disadvantage of a rapid decrease in the immunoglobulin titer after the infection ends can be overcome by immortalizing antibody-producing B cells via fusion with, e.g., mouse myeloma cells. The resulting monoclonal antibodies are then of human origin and available in, at least theoretically, unlimited amounts. Finally, dry blood spots are a valuable tool for surveilling a population’s immunity. The add-on strategies were selected as examples for immediate, medium and long-term assistance and therefore did not raise any claim to completeness. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:49:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4f4e88c3d8794ac89b7ccfee25b66c00 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4915 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:49:58Z |
| publishDate | 2023-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Viruses |
| spelling | doaj.art-4f4e88c3d8794ac89b7ccfee25b66c002023-11-18T13:02:53ZengMDPI AGViruses1999-49152023-06-01156137210.3390/v15061372Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-ReviewFranz Tatzber0Willibald Wonisch1Ulrike Resch2Wolfgang Strohmaier3Meinrad Lindschinger4Sabrina Mörkl5Gerhard Cvirn6Omnignostica Ltd., 3421 Höflein an der Danube, AustriaOmnignostica Ltd., 3421 Höflein an der Danube, AustriaDepartment of Vascular Biology and Thrombosis Research, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, AustriaDr. Strohmaier & Partner Ltd., 1050 Vienna, AustriaOutpatient Clinic Laßnitzhöhe, Institute of Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases, 8301 Laßnitzhöhe, AustriaDivision of Medical Psychology, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapeutic Medicine, Medical University of Graz, 8036 Graz, AustriaOtto Loewi Research Center, Division of Physiological Chemistry, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, AustriaThere is little doubt that final victories over pandemics, such as COVID-19, are attributed to herd immunity, either through post-disease convalescence or active immunization of a high percentage of the world’s population with vaccines, which demonstrate protection from infection and transmission and are available in large quantities at reasonable prices. However, it is assumable that humans with immune defects or immune suppression, e.g., as a consequence of allograft transplantation, cannot be immunized actively nor produce sufficient immune responses to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections. These subjects desperately need other strategies, such as sophisticated protection measures and passive immunization. Hypertonic salt solutions attack vulnerable core areas of viruses; i.e., salt denatures surface proteins and thus prohibits virus penetration of somatic cells. It has to be ensured that somatic proteins are not affected by denaturation regarding this unspecific virus protection. Impregnating filtering facepieces with hypertonic salt solutions is a straightforward way to inactivate viruses and other potential pathogens. As a result of the contact of salt crystals on the filtering facepiece, these pathogens become denatured and inactivated almost quantitatively. Such a strategy could be easily applied to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and other ones that may occur in the future. Another possible tool to fight the COVID-19 pandemic is passive immunization with antibodies against SARS-CoV-2, preferably from human origin. Such antibodies can be harvested from human patients’ sera who have successfully survived their SARS-CoV-2 infection. The disadvantage of a rapid decrease in the immunoglobulin titer after the infection ends can be overcome by immortalizing antibody-producing B cells via fusion with, e.g., mouse myeloma cells. The resulting monoclonal antibodies are then of human origin and available in, at least theoretically, unlimited amounts. Finally, dry blood spots are a valuable tool for surveilling a population’s immunity. The add-on strategies were selected as examples for immediate, medium and long-term assistance and therefore did not raise any claim to completeness.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/6/1372hypertonic salt solutionimpregnationfiltering face piecehuman monoclonal antibodydry blood spot |
| spellingShingle | Franz Tatzber Willibald Wonisch Ulrike Resch Wolfgang Strohmaier Meinrad Lindschinger Sabrina Mörkl Gerhard Cvirn Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-Review Viruses hypertonic salt solution impregnation filtering face piece human monoclonal antibody dry blood spot |
| title | Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-Review |
| title_full | Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-Review |
| title_fullStr | Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-Review |
| title_short | Thinking beyond Vaccination: Promising Add-On Strategies to Active Immunization and Vaccination in Pandemics—A Mini-Review |
| title_sort | thinking beyond vaccination promising add on strategies to active immunization and vaccination in pandemics a mini review |
| topic | hypertonic salt solution impregnation filtering face piece human monoclonal antibody dry blood spot |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/15/6/1372 |
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