Aiming to develop a vaccine candidate against human adenovirus-55 (HAdV-55) infections, researchers from the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University (China) and collaborators have generated a replication-incompetent rAd55-5E4.

Nipah virus, which circulates in fruit bats and other animals primarily in Asia and the South Pacific, causes severe neurological respiratory disease in humans and leads to death in 40%-75% of cases. The virus is endemic in Bangladesh and India, where outbreaks have occurred nearly annually since 2001.

As COVID-19 deaths across the globe top 3 million, with more than 1 million in Europe alone, the global demand is increasing for mRNA vaccines, even as sponsors of adenovirus vaccines push back against ongoing safety concerns. Last week, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe reported that the confirmed COVID-19 death toll for the region had surpassed 1 million, with 1.6 million new cases being reported every week. More than 171 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the region, translating to nearly 13% of the European population receiving one dose and close to 6% completing both doses of the vaccines.