T cell-targeted Q fever vaccine

The T cell-targeted Q fever vaccine is an experimental prophylactic designed to provide immunity against *Coxiella burnetii*, the intracellular bacterium responsible for Q fever. Developed primarily by researchers at the University of New Mexico and Massachusetts General Hospital with support from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), this vaccine aims to overcome the significant safety limitations of the existing whole-cell inactivated vaccine, Q-Vax. Q-Vax is known to cause severe delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions in individuals with prior exposure to the pathogen, necessitating a complex pre-vaccination screening process. The T cell-targeted approach utilizes a selection of highly conserved, immunodominant T-cell epitopes identified from the *C. burnetii* proteome. These epitopes are designed to stimulate robust CD4+ and CD8+ T-cell responses, which are critical for controlling and clearing intracellular infection. The vaccine is typically formulated using delivery platforms such as poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles or non-living bacterial vectors to enhance the delivery and presentation of the peptides to the immune system without the inflammatory components of the whole bacterium.

Other names

Multi-epitope Q fever vaccineT-cell epitope Q fever vaccineCoxiella burnetii T-cell targeted vaccine