Plague

Killed whole cell vaccines for plague were first produced as long ago as the late 1890s and modified versions of these are still used, with evidence that they are efficacious against bubonic plague. Renewed efforts with modern technology have yielded new candidate vaccines which are less reactogenic, can be produced in a conventional pharmaceutical manufacturing plant and are protective against the life-threatening pneumonic form of the disease. This paper reviews the progress towards an improved vaccine for plague and assesses the likely impact of a prophylactic vaccine for bubonic and pneumonic plague.