preprints.org > medicine and pharmacology > medicine and pharmacology > doi: 10.20944/preprints201612.0076.v1

Preprint Review Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Version 1 : Received: 14 December 2016 / Approved: 15 December 2016 / Online: 15 December 2016 (07:24:05 CET)

Coccidioidomycosis (Valley Fever) is a disease caused by inhalation of Coccidioides spp. This neglected tropical disease of the Americas has substantial public health impact despite its geographic restriction to desert areas of the southwestern U.S., Mexico, Central and South America. The incidence of this infection in California and Arizona has been increasing over the past fifteen years. The burden of disease in outside the U.S. remains poorly understood. Several large cities are within the endemic region in the U.S. Coccidioidomycosis accounts for 25,000 hospital admissions per year in California. While most cases of coccidioidomycosis resolve spontaneously, up to 40% are severe enough to require anti-fungal treatment, and a significant number disseminate beyond the lungs. Disseminated infection, especially involving the meninges, is fatal without appropriate treatment. Infection with Coccidioides spp. is protective against a second infection, so vaccination seems biologically plausible. This review of efforts to develop a vaccine against coccidioidomycosis focuses on vaccine approaches and the difficulties in identifying protein antigen/adjuvant combinations that protect in experimental mouse models. Although the quest for a vaccine has not yet resulted in a clinically useful product, scientific efforts of vaccine development pave the way for future success.

Coccidioides immitis; Coccidioides posadasii; Coccidioidomycosis; vaccine; immunology; fungi; T-cell mediated immunity

Medicine and Pharmacology, Medicine and Pharmacology

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