At the time the Swiss Serum and
Vaccine Institute Berne (BERNA) was found in 1898, few
vaccines or
immune globulins were available. This short list included
vaccines against
cholera,
typhoid fever,
plague,
smallpox and
rabies and equine anti-
tetanus and
diphtheria immune globulins. Furthermore, their use was restricted due to limited production capacity, uncertainty regarding safety and no public health infrastructure to promote their utilization. Today, safe and effective
vaccines exist for more than 30
infectious diseases while human hyperimmune
globulins exist to treat or prevent
rabies,
tetanus, respiratory syncytial virus, cytomegalovirus,
hepatitis A,
hepatitis B, and herpes virus (
Varicella zoster)
infections. Throughout its 100 years of existence, BERNA has played a key role in the evolution of the field by introducing novel technology leading to safer, and more efficacious
vaccines. It was a pioneer in the development of freeze dried
smallpox vaccine free from bacterial contamination. The Salmonella typhi Ty21a
typhoid fever vaccine strain demonstrated that oral immunization against enteric bacterial pathogens was not only feasible, but could be accomplished with a virtual lack of attendant adverse reactions. This finding has served as an impetus to develop other live attenuated bacterial strains not only as
vaccines, but also as vectors for
vaccine antigens and gene therapy. One such example is Vibrio cholerae
CVD 103-HgR, the first live
vaccine for human use derived through
recombinant DNA technology. Subsequent studies have shown that these two
vaccine strains can be combined without sacrificing safety or immunogenicity, setting the cornerstone for combined orally administered
vaccines. Recently, a novel
vaccine antigen delivery system, termed
virosomes, has been utilized to construct
hepatitis A and
influenza vaccines. Such
vaccines elicit fewer local adverse reactions than their classical counterparts and display enhanced immunogenicity.
Virosome-formulated
influenza vaccine has also been shown to be safe and immunogenic, when administered by the intranasal route.