Healthy individuals’ immune response to the Bulgarian Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus vaccine

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) poses a great threat to public health due to its high mortality and transmission rate and wide geographical distribution. There is currently no specific antiviral therapy for CCHF. This study provides the first in-depth analysis of the cellular and humoral immune response in healthy individuals following injection of inactivated Bulgarian vaccine, the only CCHFV vaccine available at present. Vaccinated individuals developed robust, anti-CCHFV-specific T-cell activity as measured by IFN-γ ELISpot assay. The frequency of IFN-γ secreting T-cells was 10-fold higher in individuals after vaccination with four doses than after one single dose. High levels of CCHFV antibodies were observed following the first dose, but repeated doses were required to achieve antibodies with neutralizing activity against CCHFV. However, the neutralizing activity in these groups was low.

► Bulgarian vaccine induces anti-CCHFV-specific T-cell response.
► The antibodies raised against this vaccine in immunized people have low neutralizing activities.
► Several dosage of vaccine induce significantly specific immune responses against CCHFV.