MODIFIED VIRAL PARTICLES WITH IMMUNOGENIC PROPERTIES AND REDUCED LIPID CONTENT USEFUL FOR TREATING AND PREVENTING INFECTIOUS DISEASES

摘要

The present invention relates to a method for reducing the occurrence and severity of infectious diseases, especially infectious diseases in which lip id- containing infectious viral organisms are found in biological fluids, such a s blood. The present invention employs solvents useful for extracting lipids from the lipid-containing infectious viral organism thereby creating modifie d viral particles with reduced infectivity and enhanced antigenicity. The present invention provides for the use of these modified viral particles in the preparation of medicaments for prevention and/or treatment of one or mor e viral diseases in a patient. The present invention provides vaccine compositions, comprising these modified viral particles with reduced infectivity and enhanced antigenicity, optionally combined with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or an immunostimulant. The vaccine composition is administered to a patient to provide protection against the lipid-containing infectious viral organism. The vaccine composition of the present invention include combination vaccines of modified viral particles obtained from one or more strains of a virus and/or one or more types of vir us.