Context

A multi-country Phase II / III clinical trial of a vaccine led by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in partnership with Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL) has begun in Costa Rica.

About

About vaccine

• It is funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) with support from the Ind-CEPI mission of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT),
• The development of the Chikungunya Vaccine is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), as part of the Global Chikungunya Vaccine Clinical Development Program (GCCDP).
• The vaccine is named BBV87 and going through a controlled trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a 2-dose regimen in healthy adults across five countries with endemic Chikungunya.
• Inactivated whole virion:
  • BBV87 vaccine is an inactivated whole virion vaccine based on a strain derived from an East, Central and South African genotype.
    • Inactivated vaccines contain viruses whose genetic material has been destroyed by heat, chemicals or radiation so they cannot infect cells and replicate.
  • Inactivated virions technology has a safety profile that potentially makes this vaccine accessible to special populations, such as the immuno compromised and pregnant women that some other technologies cannot reach.

About Chikungunya disease

• Chikungunya is a viral illness transmitted by mosquitoes that causes the sudden onset of fever and severe joint pain.
• Spready by: Chikungunya virus is most often spread to people by Aedesaegypti and Aedesalbopictus mosquitoes. These are the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue virus.
• Symptoms: fatigue, muscle pain, headache and rash. Signs and symptoms usually appear within two to seven days after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
• Chikungunya virus was first identified in Tanzania in 1952, with sporadic outbreaks of the disease reported subsequently across Africa and Asia.