What is this publication about?

This scoping review covers all articles that have tested a defined vaccine candidate in a pre-clinical protection assay against S. mansoni in the period 1994-2024. It summarises tests of Schistosoma mansoni vaccines in the last three decades. 100+ vaccine candidates have been tested, with only 10 of these achieving efficacy of over 60%, and only 2 at over 90%.

Vaccine formulation, study design, and efficacy parameters from all articles were extracted into a database. The data is summarised graphically, with the influence of different parameters appraised.

Why is this important?

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by infection with worms of genus Schistosoma including S. mansoni. Over 200 million people are infected, sterile immunity does not naturally develop, and no vaccine is available. A vaccine could be a critical tool to achieve control and elimination. Numerous candidates have been tested in pre-clinical models, but there is not yet an approved vaccine.

How can this make a difference?

The publication brings together results of all Schistosoma mansoni vaccine tests in the last three decades, facilitating future vaccine research in this area by presenting the current state of the field.

The authors also provide a series of recommendations to researchers on how to perform vaccine tests in the future, ensuring that key learnings from past research are incorporated into ongoing and future work.