The Last Mile: Advancing Research Aimed at Developing Vaccines for Persistent and Emerging Infections Endemic to Sub-Saharan Africa

Infectious diseases remain a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in many African countries; with the resulting socio-economic consequences contributing to productivity losses and hence slowed economic growth. Various causative agents such as parasites, viruses and bacteria, drive the persistence of some of diseases associated with a significant public health burden on the continent such as malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. Vaccines will be essential for efforts aimed at combating the infectious disease burden. As a public health intervention, vaccines have many benefits such as reducing morbidity and mortality, increasing life expectancy and stimulating economic growth as evidenced by the childhood vaccination programmes in Africa and the more recent implementation of Covid-19 vaccines. Despite this success, there is need for effective vaccines against many other infectious diseases that remain endemic to Africa, making this a priority area for health research on the continent.

Intensive research efforts over the past decades have enabled the development of efficacious vaccines for some infectious diseases of significant concern in Africa, such the R21 malaria vaccine or the Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV) vaccine. While this is encouraging, there is still more to be done to eliminate the infectious disease burden on the continent. The combined effects of climate change, population growth and increased movement have the potential to widen transmission networks of geographically restricted pathogens, further demonstrating the need for intensified research aimed at vaccine development.

The research topic aims to highlight efforts to contribute towards development of efficacious vaccines for infectious diseases of relevance to Africa such as HIV, TB, Ebola, Lassa fever, and Dengue among others.

The geographic and pathogenic focus of this research is broad yet directed towards diseases significant to Africa. To further refine our understanding and tackle the challenge head-on, the scope of contributions includes but is not limited to:

• Basic research aimed at investigating disease pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions and immunological parameters related to susceptibility and immunity.

• Translational research and clinical trials aimed at moving experimental vaccines into clinical use.

• Review articles to provide background information, current advances in research and highlight potential vaccine targets