Infectious Disease

Coronavirus Update: Vaccine in Development, WHO to Visit China

The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus increased to over 4500 as of January 28, 2020, with cases appearing in 18 countries and over 100 deaths reported.

Following a meeting between World Health Organization representatives and Chinese officials, it has been decided that WHO will send a team of international experts to China in order to “work with Chinese counterparts on increasing understanding of the outbreak to guide global response efforts.”1 CDC has also offered to send representatives to China to aid in the effort to contain the outbreak.

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“Stopping the spread of this virus both in China and globally is WHO’s highest priority,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, WHO. “We appreciate the seriousness with which China is taking this outbreak, especially the commitment from top leadership, and the transparency they have demonstrated, including sharing data and genetic sequence of the virus.”1

In response to the ongoing situation, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have increased the number of airports employing screening measures from 5 to 20 in the US. Despite the growing number of cases worldwide, the risk within the United States is currently low, according to CDC director Robert Redfield, MD, who spoke during a press conference held by the US Department of Health and Human Services on January 28, 2020.2

“The coming days and weeks are likely to bring more confirmed cases here and around the world, including the possibility of some person-to-person spreading, but our goal of the ongoing US public health response is to contain this outbreak and prevent sustained spread of the virus in our country," he said.

During the same press conference, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, MD, discussed US countermeasure efforts, including the rapid development of a diagnostic test by CDC based upon published genetic sequencing of the virus, and efforts by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop a vaccine.2

“We have already started, at the NIH and with many of our collaborators, on the developing of a vaccine,” he said.

“I anticipate with some cautious optimism that we will be in a phase 1 trial within the next 3 months.” He noted that a vaccine created in response to the SARS outbreak also reached phase 1 trials, but the vaccine was never needed.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

  1. WHO, China leaders discuss next steps in battle against coronavirus outbreak [news release]. Beijing, China: World Health Organization; January 28, 2020. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/28-01-2020-who-china-leaders-discuss-next-steps-in-battle-against-coronavirus-outbreak. Accessed January 29, 2020.
  2. Azar A, Redfield R, Messonnier N, Fauci A. Update on the new coronavirus outbreak first identified in wuhan, china | press conference [video]. US Department of Health and Human Services; January 28, 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6koHkBCoNQ. Accessed January 29, 2020.