15^th Annual Summit on Vaccines and Immunization February 20-21, 2017 Berlin, Germany

Vaccination is the administration of agent-specific, but relatively harmless, antigenic components that in vaccinated individuals can induce protective immunity against the corresponding infectious agent. In practice, the terms “vaccination” and “immunization” are often used interchangeably. Vaccination is a highly effective method of preventing certain infectious diseases. Vaccines are generally very safe and serious adverse reactions are uncommon. Routine immunization programmes protect most of the world’s children from a number of infectious diseases that previously claimed millions of lives each year.

Cancer is the name given for these diseases in which the body cells become abnormal and divide without control. Cancer cells may invade nearby tissues. And they may spread through the bloodstream and lymphatic system to other parts of the body. The aim of cancer vaccines is to stimulate the immune system to be able to recognise cancer cells as abnormal and destroy them. Some vaccines for particular cancers have been developed and are being tested to see whether they can treat a cancer, or help to stop it from coming back after cancer treatment. There are two major categories that cancer vaccines fit into: Specific cancer vaccine & Universal cancer vaccine. As the name suggests, specific cancer vaccines are designed to treat specific types of cancers. In other words, a vaccine could be developed for lung cancer, another vaccine could be used to treat colon cancer and yet another vaccine could treat skin cancer and so on. A more appealing cancer vaccine would be one that could fight cancer cells regardless of cancer type. This type of vaccine is called a universal cancer vaccine. 

Scientists take many approaches to designing vaccines against a microbe. These choices are typically based on fundamental information about the microbe, such as how it infects cells and how the immune system responds to it, as well as practical considerations, such as regions of the world where the vaccine would be used. A DNA vaccine against a microbe would evoke a strong antibody response to the free-floating antigen secreted by cells, and the vaccine also would stimulate a strong cellular response against the microbial antigens displayed on cell surfaces. The DNA vaccine couldn’t cause the disease because it wouldn’t contain the microbe, just copies of a few of its genes. In addition, DNA vaccines are relatively easy and inexpensive to design and produce. Inactivated vaccines can be composed of either whole viruses or bacteria, or fractions of either. Fractional vaccines are either protein-based or polysaccharide-based.

Combination vaccines take two or more vaccines that could be given individually and put them into one shot. Children get the same protection as they do from individual vaccines given separately—but with fewer shots.The use of combination vaccines improves timely vaccination coverage, according to several studies.Conjugate polysaccharide vaccines are those in which the polysaccharide is chemically linked to a protein. This linkage makes the polysaccharide a more potent vaccine. Polysaccharide coatings disguise a bacterium’s antigens so that the immature immune systems of infants and younger children can’t recognize or respond to them. 

Travel vaccines are recommended to provide protection against diseases endemic to the country of origin or of destination. They are intended to protect travellers and to prevent disease spread within and between countries.There is no single vaccination schedule that fits all travellers. Each schedule must be individualized according to the traveller’s previous immunizations, health status and risk factors, the countries to be visited, the type and duration of travel, and the amount of time available before departure. 

Malaria continues to claim an estimated 2 to 3 million lives annually and to account for untold morbidity in the approximately 300 to 500 million people infected annually. Malaria is considered a re-emerging disease, due largely to the spread of drug-resistant parasite strains, decay of health-care infrastructure and difficulties in implementing and maintaining vector control programs in many developing countries. Four species of protozoan parasites cause malaria in humans: Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, and P. ovale. P. falciparum is responsible for the majority of deaths and most of the severe forms of disease, including cerebral malaria. 

The term 'hepatitis' means inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis can be caused by viruses, other infectious agents, alcohol, and other chemicals. The two viruses that most commonly infect the liver are the hepatitis A virus and the hepatitis B virus. Hepatitis B is a serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. The virus, which is called hepatitis B virus (HBV), can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver cancer, liver failure, and death. Hepatitis B vaccine is available for all age groups to prevent HBV infection.

The most important breakthroughs of the past century involved the development of vaccines to protect against viruses: smallpox, polio, hepatitis, human papillomavirus (HPV), and even chickenpox. But one virus remains elusive to those seeking to create a vaccine to guard against it: HIV.

Immunization against diseases such as polio, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis saves the lives of approximately three million people each year. Immunization also prevents many more millions from suffering debilitating illness and lifelong disability. Globally, approximately 132 million babies need to be fully immunized each year. In order to meet this need, immunization systems must have adequate resources, trained and motivated staff, and ample vaccine and syringe supplies.

Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) such as RA, IBD or psoriasis, are at increased risk of infection, partially because of the disease itself, but mostly because of treatment with immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive drugs. In spite of their elevated risk for vaccine-preventable disease, vaccination coverage in IMID patients is surprisingly low. This review summarizes current literature data on vaccine safety and efficacy in IMID patients treated with immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs and formulates best-practice recommendations on vaccination in this population. Especially in the current era of biological therapies, including TNF-blocking agents, special consideration should be given to vaccination strategies in IMID patients. Clinical evidence indicates that immunization of IMID patients does not increase clinical parameters of disease activity. Live vaccines are contraindicated in immunocompromized individuals, but non-live vaccines can safely be given. Although the reduced quality of the immune response in patients under immunotherapy may have a negative impact on vaccination efficacy in this population, adequate humoral response to vaccination in IMID patients has been demonstrated for hepatitis B, influenza and pneumococcal vaccination. 

An emerging infectious disease (EID) is an infectious disease whose incidence has increased in the past 20 years and could increase in the near future. Emerging infections account for at least 12% of all human pathogens. And Re-emerging infectious diseases are diseases that once were major health problems globally or in a particular country, and then declined dramatically, but are again becoming health problems for a significant proportion of the population.

Vaccine production has several stages. First, the antigen itself is generated. Viruses are grown either on primary cells such as chicken eggs (e.g., for influenza) or on continuous cell lines such as cultured human cells (e.g., for hepatitis A). Bacteria are grown in bioreactors (e.g., Haemophilus influenzae type b).

There is currently intense research activity aimed at the development of new delivery systems for vaccines. The goal is to identify optimal methods for presenting target antigens to the immune system in a manner that will elicit immune responses appropriate for protection against, or treatment of, a specific disease. 

The safety and effectiveness of vaccines are under constant study. Because vaccines are designed to be given routinely during well-child care visits, they must be extraordinarily safe. Safety testing begins as soon as a new vaccine is contemplated, continues until it is approved by the FDA, and is monitored indefinitely after licensure. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) works closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make recommendations for vaccine use.

2 important topics of current good manufacturing practices as they apply to vaccine products: product inspections and stability testing. The perspective presented is that of regulated industry. There are 2 major categories of product/facility inspections: those occurring before licensure of a vaccine product and those occurring after a vaccine product is licensed. The logistics and focus of each inspection type, the preapproval inspection, and the required biennial inspection are discussed, as are guidance and recommendations for achieving successful inspections. The requirements, guidance, and recommendations regarding the type, amount, and extensiveness of stability data for vaccine products are presented. 

Many adults feel that they do not need vaccinations, or worry about side effects from the vaccine itself, but people age 65 and older are at higher risk of complications from the actual diseases. It is important for older adults to keep vaccines current: they may not have been vaccinated as a child, new vaccinations may now be available, immunity may have faded, and most importantly, seniors are more susceptible to serious and possibly life-threatening infections.

When vaccines are mentioned most people think of immunization against childhood infectious diseases. However, in recent years the uses to which vaccines are being put has dramatically expanded beyond traditional infectious disease applications. Vaccines currently in preclinical and clinical development target prevention or treatment of a wide range of non-infectious diseases including cancer, allergy, asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, hypertension, heart disease, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkison’s disease and even nicotine and cocaine addiction. For the most part such vaccines aim to induce neutralizing antibodies against foreign or self-antigens, thereby blocking their activity and ability to induce disease.

Many of the main advances in Immunology have arisen as a result of the use of animals. The development of transplantation surgery and the development of new medicines and vaccines would not be possible without animal research. The use of animal models has helped us understand how infectious diseases occur. This has led scientists to develop preventative treatments in the form of vaccines to help reduce the likelihood of someone being infected with a dangerous microbe, such as those responsible for causing polio, diphtheria, and hepatitis C. 

Transgenic plants have been identified as promising expression systems for vaccine production. Complex plants such as tobacco, potato, tomato, and banana can have genes inserted that cause them to produce vaccines usable for humans. Bananas have been developed that produce a human vaccine against Hepatitis B. 

Vaccines can help keep you and your growing family healthy. If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the specific vaccinations you need are determined by factors such as your age, lifestyle, medical conditions you may have, such as asthma or diabetes, type and locations of travel, and previous vaccinations. CDC has guidelines for the vaccines you need before, during, and after pregnancy. Some vaccines, such as the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine, should be given a month or more before pregnancy. You should get some vaccines, like Tdap (to protect against whooping cough), during your pregnancy. 

Mouse models of human cancer have played a vital role in understanding tumorigenesis and answering experimental questions that other systems cannot address. Advances continue to be made that allow better understanding of the mechanisms of tumor development, and therefore the identification of better therapeutic and diagnostic strategies. We review major advances that have been made in modeling cancer in the mouse and specific areas of research that have been explored with mouse models.

The response to pathogens is composed by the complex interactions and activities of the large number of diverse cell types involved in the immune response. The innate immune response is the first line of defense and occurs soon after pathogen exposure. It is carried out by phagocytic cells such as neutrophils and macrophages, cytotoxic natural killer (NK) cells, and granulocytes. The subsequent adaptive immune response includes antigen-specific defense mechanisms and may take days to develop. Cell types with critical roles in adaptive immunity are antigen-presenting cells including macrophages and dendritic cells. 

Clinical immunology is the study of diseases caused by disorders of the immune system (failure, aberrant action, and malignant growth of the cellular elements of the system). It also involves diseases of other systems, where immune reactions play a part in the pathology and clinical features.

The diseases caused by disorders of the immune system fall into two broad categories:

Immunodeficiency, in which parts of the immune system fail to provide an adequate response (examples include chronic granulomatous disease and primary immune diseases);

Autoimmunity, in which the immune system attacks its own host's body (examples include systemic lupus erythematosus, rhematoid arthritis, Hashimoto's disease and myasthenia gravis). 

Molecular Immunology is primarily devoted to publications concerned with immunological knowledge at the molecular, cellular and functional levels of innate and acquired immunity, including but not limited to: molecular mechanisms of innate and adaptive immunity phenomena, molecular aspects of immune regulation and immunogenomics, immunoproteomics and immunoglycomics.

Antibody Genetic Engineering & Therapeutics meeting brought together a broad range of participants who were updated on the latest advances in antibody research and development. Organized by IBC Life Sciences, the gathering is the annual meeting of The Antibody Society, which serves as the scientific sponsor. Preconference workshops on 3D modelling and delineation of clonal lineages were featured.