Publications by authors named "E C LEFFEL"

Article Synopsis
  • - Clinical vaccine development follows a linear process through Phases 1 to 4, focusing on safety and efficacy, but candidate vaccines for certain filoviruses face extended timelines due to lack of identified correlates of protection.
  • - The Sabin Vaccine Institute sought alternatives for faster licensure of Marburg and Ebola Sudan virus vaccines in a May 2021 meeting, considering an "animal rule-like" approach due to the urgent need and limited treatment options for these diseases.
  • - Discussion centered on regulatory strategies within Uganda, which has ongoing Ebola vaccine trials, and the potential for licensure through the well-established processes of the U.S. FDA.
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Inhalation anthrax is a potentially lethal form of disease resulting from exposure to aerosolized Bacillus anthracis spores. Over the last decade, incidents spanning from the deliberate mailing of B. anthracis spores to incidental exposures in users of illegal drugs have highlighted the importance of developing new medical countermeasures to protect people who have been exposed to "anthrax spores" and are at risk of developing disease.

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Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is recognized as one of the most serious bioterrorism threats. The current human vaccines are based on the protective antigen component of the anthrax toxins. Concern about possible vaccine resistant strains and reliance on a single antigen has prompted the search for additional immunogens.

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Background: Postexposure prophylaxis of inhalational anthrax requires prolonged antibiotic therapy or antibiotics and vaccination. The duration of treatment for established anthrax is controversial, because retained spores may germinate and cause disease after antibiotics are discontinued. Using rhesus macaques, we determined whether a short course of antibiotic treatment, as opposed to prophylaxis, could effectively treat inhalational anthrax and prevent disease caused by the germination of spores after discontinuation of antibiotics.

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Bacillus anthracis lethal toxin (LT) was characterized in plasma from infected African Green monkeys, rabbits, and guinea pigs. In all cases, during the terminal phase of infection only the protease-activated 63-kDa form of protective antigen (PA(63)) and the residual 20-kDa fragment (PA(20)) were detected in the plasma. No uncut PA with a molecular mass of 83 kDa was detected in plasma from toxemic animals during the terminal stage of infection.

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