Development of attenuated coxsackievirus B3 vectored intranasal pre-emptive pan-coronavirus vaccine (preprint)

SARS-CoV-2 has the ability to evade immunity, resulting in breakthrough infections even after vaccination. Similarly, zoonotic coronaviruses pose a risk of spillover to humans. There is an urgent need to develop a pre-emptive pan-coronavirus vaccine that can induce systemic and mucosal immunity. Here, we employed a combination of immune-informatics approaches to identify shared immunodominant linear B- and T-cell epitopes from SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs) and variants of interest (VOIs), as well as zoonotic coronaviruses. Epitope-guided vaccine were designed and the attenuated coxsackievirus B3 vectored intranasal vaccines rCVB3-EPI and rCVB3-RBD-trimer were constructed. The immunogenicity of these candidate vaccines was evaluated using Balb/c mice. The results demonstrated effective immune responses, including the production of SARS-CoV-2-specific IgG and sIgA antibodies, as well as T cell-mediated responses. However, further verification is required to assess cross-reactivity with various variants. Our intranasal pre-emptive pan-coronavirus vaccine design framework offers an appealing candidate for future vaccine development.

Modelling and estimation of COVID-19 pandemic with the face mask and vaccination (preprint)

COVID-19 is a public health emergency for human beings and brings some very harmful consequences in social and economic fields. In order to model COVID-19 and develop the effective controlling measures, this paper proposes an SEIR-type epidemic model with the mask wearing and the vaccination. Firstly, the effective reproduction number and the threshold conditions are obtained by analyzing the dynamical behaviors of the proposed epidemic model.  Secondly, selecting the data of South Korea from January 20, 2022  to March 21, 2022, all model parameters are defined and estimated. Finally, based on the estimated parameters, the numerical simulations are conducted and the simulation suitably fit with the presented model. The results show that the  mask wearing ratio, the effectiveness of the certain face mask, the vaccination rate and effectiveness of vaccination for the susceptible individuals play an important role in preventing and controlling COVID-19 pandemic. The face mask wearing is associated with 83% and 90% reductions in the numbers of  the cumulative cases and the newly confirmed cases respectively after sixty days while the face mask wearing rate increases 15%, and the vaccination rate is associated with 75% and 80% reductions in the numbers of  the cumulative cases and the newly confirmed cases respectively after sixty days while the vaccination rate augments 15\%. Therefore,  the effect of  the mask wearing on reducing  the cumulative cases and the newly confirmed cases is more remarkable than that of the vaccination, this means the disease control departments should strongly recommended that peoples should wear the face mask to prevent themselves from becoming infected when the  vaccination willingness of individuals is relative low. The face mask wearing still the primary measure  to prevent and control the transmission of COVID-19 pandemic.

Modelling for The COVID-19 with The Contacting Distance (preprint)

The COVID-19, which belongs to the family of Coronaviridae and is large-scale outbreak in the whole world, is a public health emergency for human beings and brings some very harmful consequences in social and economic fields. In order to modelling the COVID-19 and develop the efficient control method corresponding to the contacting distance, this paper proposes an SEIR-type epidemic model with the contacting distance between the healthy individuals and the asymptomatic or symptomatic infected individuals, and the immigration rate of the healthy individuals, since the contacting distance and the immigration rate are two critical factors which determine the transmission of the COVID-19. Firstly, the threshold contacting distance and the threshold immigration rate are obtained by analyze the dynamical behaviors of the proposed SEIR-type epidemic model in order to control the COVID-19. The effect of the contacting distance and the immigration rate on the control of the COVID-19 are revealed based on ecological and epidemiological issues. The results show that the COVID-19 will be controlled while the contacting distance between the healthy individuals and the symptomatic infected individuals is larger than the threshold value A~ and the immigration rate is smaller than the threshold value ~ d. Secondly, the sensitivity analysis is conducted and the results show that the contacting distance and the immigration rate play an important role in controlling the COVID-19. Finally, the numerical test for Wuhan city are conducted and the conclusions show that the extinct lag decreases as the the contacting distance increase or the immigration rate decrease. Our study could give some reasonable suggestions for the health officials and the public.