New vaccine targets life-threatening fungal infections

A new study from University of Georgia researchers describes a vaccine that could be the first clinically approved immunization to protect against invasive fungal infections, a growing concern as antifungal drug resistance increases:

The experimental vaccine is designed to protect against the three most common fungal pathogens that are responsible for more than 80% of fatal fungal infections. The study tested the vaccine’s efficacy in four preclinical animal models, including nonhuman primates.

The researchers relied on different immunosuppressed models for the study, reflecting drug regimens similar to those of transplant recipients, people with HIV or cancer patients, some of the most at-risk human populations.

The vaccine was effective in developing protective antibodies in each of the models.

Continue reading...

Published in PNAS Nexus, the study was co-authored by the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Emily Rayens, Whitney Rabacal, Hubertine Willems, Gabrielle Kirton, James Barber and Jarrod Mousa; and the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences’ Brandi Celia-Sanchez and Michelle Momany.