Vaccines and Neutralizing Antibodies for Virus Infection
A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 96
Special Issue Editors
Interests: vaccines; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
While neutralizing antibody titers have long been the primary correlate of protection (CoP) for vaccines—a standard reinforced by the success of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines—emerging evidence reveals a more complex reality. For highly variable viruses, antibody potency declines rapidly with the accumulation of mutations, responses can be “blunted” by repeated exposure, and regardless of the vaccine platform or regimen, antibody levels inevitably wane over time. Furthermore, this antibody-centric view overlooks significant risks and other key defenses. Pathological responses like antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) in Dengue and vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease (VAERD) in RSV prove that antibodies can sometimes worsen disease. It also neglects T-cell immunity, which offers more durable and broader protection, and mucosal immunity, which is crucial for blocking infection at the point of entry. Therefore, future vaccine development must adopt a more comprehensive evaluation framework that moves beyond simple antibody levels. This requires a deeper mechanistic understanding of how different vaccine platforms shape immunity and leveraging advanced strategies—like heterologous prime-boosting and AI-driven antigen design—to rationally “educate” the immune system for broad and lasting protection.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Qihan Li
Dr. Dandan Li
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- correlates of protection (CoPs)
- neutralizing antibodies (nAbs)
- T-cell immunity
- mucosal immunity
- antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE)
- vaccine-enhanced disease
- vaccine efficacy
- viral immune evasion
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