Live Attenuated Vaccine
Gas gangrene is a serious infection caused by Clostridium perfringens toxins. The bacterial toxin is related to a significant number of deaths associated with gas gangrenes. The bacteria release the toxin at the site of infection, leading to severe necrosis. The disease’s primary characteristic manifestation includes extreme pain proportional to the size of the wound in infected patients. Clostridium perfringens’ virulence factors include fimbriae, Hyaluronidase acid capsule, alpha toxin, collagenase, and spores. Other strains of Clostridium perfringens are linked to intestinal infections n human beings and farm animals to a minimal extent. Although there is little understanding regarding the role of alpha-toxin in intestinal disease pathogenesis, scientists consider it the primary causative agent associated with Clostridium perfringens type A diseases. It causes infection after direct contact with an open wound, or damaged muscle or skin, and affects both human beings and animals.
Vaccination against toxins disseminating across the general circulation and targeting tissues or organs far from the gastrointestinal tract is effective against Clostridium perfringens. For instance, vaccines targeting enterotoxemia caused by Clostridium perfringens have a broad application in veterinary medicine. In the current case, Oliphant’s effective vaccine against gas gangrene requires scientists to eliminate the bacteria’s capability to produce collagenase, alpha toxins, and hyaluronidase acid capsule. These factors cause digestion complications, red blood cell hemolysis, and the bacteria’s ability to remain undetected in the blood, respectively. However, Oliphant’s live attenuated vaccine cannot extract fimbriae, which enables the bacterial attachment allowing the host’s immune system to process clostridium perfringens and develop antibodies and memory cells. The vaccine also leaves Clostridium perfringens’ endospores intact because they are essential constituents of Clostridium and Bacillus life cycles. Presently, there is no legal vaccine effective for protecting human beings against Clostridium perfringens sepsis. However, there are vaccination developments for utilization in animals that can potentially be used in human beings.