Harnessing mRNA Vaccine Technology for Disease Prevention

The efficacy of mRNA vaccine technology demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic provides optimism for its utilization in mitigating preventable illnesses across various disease domains (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
World Immunization Week 2024: mRNA vaccines hold potential in multiple disease areas

Go to source). Unlike other vaccine technologies, mRNA enables rapid production and adaptability for evolving targets. While these vaccines require ultra-cold storage, modifying this would make it even more desirable. World Immunization Week is observed every year during the last week of April to raise awareness about the potential of vaccines to prevent disease and protect life.

Advancing Public Health through Vaccination

“Vaccinations have heavily reduced the burden of disease in our society. We have already seen the eradication of smallpox and are very close to achieving the same with polio. Promoting immunization, improving vaccination schedules, and developing new vaccines are all methods that will contribute towards a decrease in morbidity mortality,” said Anaelle Tannen, Infectious Disease Analyst at GlobalData.

Currently, over 20-life threatening diseases are preventable with vaccines. In addition, novel mechanisms are expected to broaden the scope of available preventable vaccines in the coming years. Data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that vaccines prevent about 3.5-5 million deaths annually from diseases such as diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza, and measles.“The recent Covid-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for effective vaccines, improving vaccination access and acceptance, in order to protect the health, wellness, and security of the world population,” Tannen said.

“Whilst immunization is one of the cheapest and most effective public health interventions, enabling the eradication of disease, vaccine hesitancy is still very much present, and especially with the mRNA approach. Therefore, more work is needed to encourage acceptance of this immunization strategy among the public,” Tannen added.

Reference:

1. World Immunization Week 2024: mRNA vaccines hold potential in multiple disease areas - (https://www.globaldata.com/newsletter/details/world-immunization-week-2024-mrna-vaccines-hold-potential-in-multiple-disease-areas_203855/)

Source-IANS