Recent Advances in Vaccine Adjuvants
Risini D. Weeratna and Michael J. McCluskie
from: Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms (Edited by: Alita A. Miller and Paul F. Miller). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2011)
Abstract
Infectious disease remains one of the main causes of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Vaccination has had the greatest impact of any medical intervention technique in controlling infectious diseases. Most notably, eradication of smallpox was achieved through concerted and rigorous mass vaccination programs, and the incidence of diphtheria, pertussis, polio and other childhood diseases have been significantly reduced through routine infant immunization. However, with a move away from whole-killed vaccines for safety reasons, a key challenge in realizing the full potential of vaccination has been the lack of immunogenicity of many novel vaccines especially in certain populations such as the elderly and the immunocompromised. Adjuvants are a key component in enhancing immunogenicity of vaccines. Furthermore, adjuvants can play a vital role in facilitating the induction of the appropriate type of immunity that is required to either prevent, such as in prophylactic vaccines, or to treat, such as in therapeutic vaccines. Therefore, careful consideration of the choice of adjuvants becomes quintessential for developing an effective vaccine. This chapter focuses on the importance of choosing the correct adjuvant or adjuvant combination to induce the appropriate immune responses to control the target pathogen read more ...
