Smallpox, Monkeypox and Other Human Orthopoxvirus Infections.

Considering that vaccination against smallpox with live vaccinia virus led to serious adverse effects in some cases, the WHO, after declaration of the global eradication of smallpox in 1980, strongly recommended to discontinue the vaccination in all countries. This led to the loss of immunity against not only smallpox but also other zoonotic orthopoxvirus infections in humans over the past years. An increasing number of human infections with zoonotic orthopoxviruses and, first of all, monkeypox, force us to reconsider a possible re-emergence of smallpox or a similar disease as a result of natural evolution of these viruses.

Immunomodulating Drugs Based on Poxviral Proteins.

An unusually high production of cytokines or chemokines as well as increased complement activation can drive development of chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases. State-of-the-art biological therapies, recombinant receptors, or specific antibodies that target immune and inflammatory mediators are now effectively used. However, these newer drugs are not equally effective for all patients and can cause adverse effects, making the search for new immunomodulatory proteins of great importance.

Plant-based vaccines against human hepatitis B virus.

Human hepatitis B virus (HBV) causes a communicable disease that spreads worldwide and has brought about considerable economic losses due to human mortality and morbidity. HBV fails to reproduce in both cell cultures and laboratory animals; however, it is known that excess virion surface protein named hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) is produced during viral replication and circulates in the blood of carriers as noninfectious particles of 22-nm diameter. It had been shown that purified HBsAg particles induce an efficient systemic immune response after injection.