With four Canadians currently isolating across the country after exposure on the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship, the outbreak raises the question of whether there are immunizations available for the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that “there is no licenced specific antiviral treatment or vaccine for hantavirus infection.”
Dr. Fahad Razek, an internal medicine physician at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, said a hantavirus vaccine is “an active area of studying globally.”
Among those firms that have been working on a vaccine is Moderna, which saw a spike in its stocks following reports that the pharmaceutical company is conducting early-stage vaccine research on hantaviruses with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Moderna is also working alongside the Vaccine Innovation Center at Korea University College of Medicine on a potential immunization.
Shares of Moderna were up nearly seven per cent in recent trading, following a 12 per cent jump Friday.
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“There’s various approaches being used, including, for example, an mRNA-based approach that is being developed by Moderna, along with partners in Asian countries,” Razek said. “They are something that are in development, but they would then subsequently have to go through clinical trials, monitor for human safety.
“There would be many steps to do before we can consider that to be something that could be actually deployed in the context of an outbreak like what we’re seeing.”
Dr. Donald Cuong Vinh, a professor of medicine and a clinician-scientist at the McGill University Health Centre, said the hantavirus outbreak is a “stark reminder” of the COVID-19 pandemic for many people.
“I think we have to go back to COVID at the start of the pandemic, when again, we had no vaccines and we had the fear of the general public,” he said.
“That fear should be our impetus to invest continuously in science and research because we were able to get over the challenges of the COVID pandemic because of vaccines and because of research that allowed new drugs and therapies to be developed.”
Vinh said the current outbreak is a “clarion call that we need to mobilize research,” especially as the outbreak remains a focal point of conversation.
“We still need the time to be able to test it, test to make sure it’s efficacious, test to make sure that it’s safe, and that time may not be what’s on our side if the virus is propagating faster than we would like,” he said.
The outbreak on the cruise ship has left three dead and 11 other identified cases, nine of which are confirmed.
The WHO stated in a press conference Monday that although there is “no sign” of a larger hantavirus outbreak, the organization expects “more cases given the dynamics of spread on a ship and the virus’ incubation period.”
“There have been no deaths since 2nd of May, when WHO was first informed of the cluster of cases. All suspected and confirmed cases have been isolated and managed under strict medical supervision, minimizing any risk of further transmission,” said Tedros Abhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO.
Health Canada also states that the overall risk to the general population in Canada “remains low.” Because “transmission requires close, prolonged contact, person-to-person spread in Canada isn’t expected, even if an infected individual were to arrive in the country.”
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