Norovirus

Human noroviruses have become the leading cause of acute nonbacterial gastroenteritis in countries where rotavirus vaccination has been successfully implemented. These viruses have been referred to as “perfect human pathogens” as they are highly infectious, rapidly and prolifically shed, difficult to avoid, and without etiological treatment. These considerations make human norovirus disease a good target for prevention through vaccination. The first licensed human norovirus vaccine will likely utilize VLPs and elicit responses able to ameliorate disease from strains closely matched to the vaccine strain. In the future, vaccine development efforts are likely to focus on structure-based or antibody-guided approaches that enable vaccines capable of addressing antigenic shifts or the emergence of a divergent strain.