Age-Specific Immune Response to Vaccination
A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2015) | Viewed by 6229
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Neonatal and early infant morbidity and mortality remain the highest in sub-Saharan Africa and other resource limited settings, and this is where novel preventative strategies are likely to have the greatest potential to benefit pregnant women and their infants.
Birth is accompanied by the transition from the sterile in utero environment to a pathogen-and antigen-loaden world. Adaptation and maturation of immune responses to this new environment are therefore a necessity for the newborn’s immune system.
Vaccination in early infancy already forms part of the strategy to protect young infants against certain infectious diseases. (BCG, polio, HepB)
More recently, the concept of maternal immunisation has gained momentum and its role has already been established to prevent neonatal tetanus and more lately pertussis in some countries.
Our understanding of the effect of vaccines on the maturation of immune function more generally and on interactions of vaccines between themselves more specifically is rudimentary to date, but lately, the concept of trained innate immunity has started to evolve.
Over the last few years, a number of clinical trials have enrolled mothers and infants into vaccine studies. We are now in a position to assess the lessons learned from these and other ongoing international trials, to discuss current scientific progress in maternal and neonatal immunology, infections and immunizations, in the broader context of infectious disease epidemiology and public health. The review will provide an update on key areas in maternal and neonatal immunisation including the development and utilization of vaccines for pathogens that affect maternal and child health, such as pertussis, influenza, group B streptococcus, respiratory syncytial virus, meningococcus and pneumococcus.
The new tools of Systems Vaccinology now provide an opportunity to unravel in much more detail the interactions of vaccines, the changes in immune responses associated with age, environment and type of vaccine given.
We will invite contributions from authors able to discuss mechanisms of adaptation and maturation of immunity in the first few months of life.
We will invite contributions from leading authors on maternal immunization.
We will invite contributions from groups that have conducted clinical trials and observational studies of maternal immunization.
These articles will cover the effects of maternal immunity on infant vaccine responses and the role of breast milk in early immunity.
We will invite contributions from research groups leading the area of research in “Trained Innate Immunity” and epigenetics/gene-environment interactions.
Research groups with data gathered through systems vaccinology and novel “omics” approaches for future discovery, barriers and opportunities will also be discussed.
Where available, data from animal models could be included by soliciting relevant researchers/groups to contribute to the review.
Prof. Dr. Beate Kampmann
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- age and immunity
- vaccine responses
- maternal immunization
- systems vaccinology
