Bitesized Breakthroughs

T Cell Triumph

Little is known about immunity from mpox infection or vaccination with vaccinia-based vaccines (VACV). To measure mpox T cell responses in natural infection and vaccination, researchers have developed orthopox- and mpox-specific epitope pools, which were then validated by detection of memory T cell responses in Dryvax-vaccinees (1). Predicted mpox pools detected CD4 and CD8 T cells in 100 percent and 53 percent of vaccines, respectively – providing evidence that the MVA-BN vaccine can train T cells to recognize mpox sequences.

Refined Reference

Developing new NGS tools and pipelines for assembling complete genomes is crucial for our ongoing understanding of how drug-resistance is evolving. In a new paper, researchers present one such solution, called Bact-Builder – a pipeline for generating complete and accurate bacterial genome sequences (2). They use the tool to provide a comprehensive update to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv reference genome.

Through the Ages

In a study investigating aerosol particle and droplet concentrations released in the breath, researchers have found that children exhale fewer potentially infectious small respiratory droplets from the lower respiratory tract than adults (3). Adults were more likely to spread airborne respiratory diseases that are associated with high pathogen load in the lower respiratory tract and trigger a super-spreading event.

Set the Bar

To improve the scale of hepatitis B treatment in sub-Saharan Africa, simple biomarkers of liver fibrosis are required. Researchers have assessed the suitability of the WHO-recommended aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) and two other fibrosis markers and found that the WHO’s recommended threshold of 2.0 has poor sensitivity for diagnosing a liver stiffness measurement of >12.2 kPa in sub-Saharan Africa (4). The team then developed new thresholds and non-invasive biomarkers that demonstrated better discriminatory abilities.

Third Time’s a Charm

A three-dose regimen of a Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite (PfSPZ) vaccine has demonstrated safety and efficacy against malaria infection in malaria-experienced adults living in Burkina Faso, West Africa (5). Vaccine efficacy was up to 48 percent at six-months, only dropping to 46 percent at 18 months. The study shows that the three-dose regimen can be administered to malaria-experienced adults in a highly endemic area and still protect against infection – a feat that usually proves difficult due to existing immune responses to malaria parasites.