Less Information, Many Variants... Why Wuhan Pneumonia Vaccine Development Is Slow

On the afternoon of the 22nd, a notice containing precautions about the "Wuhan (武漢) Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia" was displayed at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] As the spread of the novel coronavirus originating from Wuhan City, China, commonly referred to as 'Wuhan Pneumonia,' becomes more apparent, interest in treatments has also increased. Currently, there are no vaccines or treatments for this new virus, and treatment mainly focuses on symptomatic relief.

Previously, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which emerged in China in the winter of 2002 and spread to various countries, and MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) in 2015, are also variants of the coronavirus. Considering that no vaccines were developed for these, it is highly likely that no vaccine will be available for this infectious disease either. Coronaviruses are a type of RNA virus that infects the respiratory tracts of mammals and birds, are chemically unstable, prone to mutations, and easily undergo changes.

Vaccines for viral infectious diseases work by blocking the virus from entering or replicating within our body's cells. However, RNA viruses like this one can alter the shape of cell receptors to infect cells, effectively evading vaccines, which means existing vaccines are ineffective. Since the virus does not spread according to a specific pattern based on time or region, new variant viruses may emerge while researchers are searching for immune antigens.

In the case of SARS, the number of patients rapidly increased in 2003, the year following its initial outbreak, with an estimated 8,000 cases and 774 deaths. No vaccine was developed at that time. Unlike SARS, which had no cases domestically, MERS infected 186 people in South Korea, and cases still occur in some Middle Eastern countries, but vaccine development remains uncertain. Even if the mechanism of the outbreak is identified, low demand may prevent actual development. A representative from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated, "There are still no vaccines or complete cures, and treatment focuses on symptoms," adding that efforts are concentrated on prevention and containment.