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Health
Russia's Gamaleya Center director says a hantavirus vaccine could take 18 months to develop, citing funding gaps and a small market.
Developing a vaccine against hantavirus could take roughly a year and a half, according to Alexander Gintsburg, director of Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. He stated that the necessary scientific knowledge already exists to pursue such a vaccine.
Gintsburg explained that work on a hantavirus vaccine has not yet begun because it requires "significant funding" for what he described as a "very small potential market" for the drug. He suggested the current outbreak aboard the cruise ship "MV Hondius" might serve as a catalyst to shift these priorities.
"Perhaps this outbreak on the expensive cruise ship (MV Hondius) will force attention to this problem, and funds will be allocated to create at least a vaccination system according to epidemiological indicators," the scientist told the newspaper Izvestia.
Gintsburg noted the need to create a vaccine targeting five to seven of the most prevalent antigenic strains simultaneously, which would require research to identify those strains. He added, "Virus-like particle technology has already been successfully applied in the rotavirus vaccine. This approach can be used to make a vaccine against hantavirus."
Three weeks ago, the cruise ship "MV Hondius" departed from the Argentine city of Ushuaia bound for the Canary Islands. Eight people aboard have been diagnosed with hantavirus, and three passengers have died.
The ship carries approximately 150 people, most of whom are citizens of the United States, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and the Netherlands. The crew includes one Russian citizen.
According to the World Health Organization, the hantavirus causing the outbreak is the "Andes virus," the only type known to have limited human-to-human transmission through prolonged, close contact. The WHO currently assesses the public health risk as "low" but is monitoring the situation closely.
Hantaviruses are a family of viruses that primarily infect small mammals but can also be transmitted to humans through contact with urine, droppings, or saliva of infected rodents. In severe cases, the respiratory system is affected, leading to heart failure and hemorrhagic fever.
Expert data indicates that approximately 5,000 to 7,000 cases of hantavirus infection are recorded annually worldwide, including in Russia.
