WHO Names Top Pathogens Which Urgently Require New Vaccines

A new World Health Organization (WHO) study published on Tuesday in eBioMedicine names 17 disease-causing pathogens as top priorities for new vaccine development. The WHO study is the first global effort to systematically prioritize endemic pathogens based on criteria that included regional disease burden, antimicrobial resistance risk, and socioeconomic impact.

The study reconfirms longstanding priorities for vaccine research and development, including for HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis—three diseases that collectively take nearly 2.5 million lives each year.

The study also identifies pathogens such as Group A streptococcus and Klebsiella pneumoniae as top disease control priorities in all regions, highlighting the urgency to develop new vaccines for pathogens increasingly resistant to antimicrobials.

“Too often global decisions on new vaccines have been solely driven by return on investment, rather than by the number of lives that could be saved in the most vulnerable communities,” said Dr. Kate O’Brien, WHO director of the immunization, vaccines, and biologicals department. “This study uses broad regional expertise and data to assess vaccines that would not only significantly reduce diseases that greatly impact communities today but also reduce the medical costs that families and health systems face.”

WHO Priority Endemic Pathogens List (Vaccines for these pathogens are at different stages of development.)

Pathogens where vaccine research is needed:

• Group A streptococcus
• Hepatitis C virus
• HIV-1
• Klebsiella pneumoniae

 Pathogens where vaccines need to be further developed:

• Cytomegalovirus
• Influenza virus (broadly protective vaccine)
• Leishmania species
• Non-typhoidal Salmonella
• Norovirus
• Plasmodium falciparum (malaria)
• Shigella species
• Staphylococcus aureus

Pathogens where vaccines are approaching regulatory approval, policy recommendation, or introduction:

• Dengue virus
• Group B streptococcus
• Extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)