Category Infectious Disease

Passive Immunization

Passive immunization, passive immunity, and passive immunotherapy all refer to the transfer of antibodies to an unprotected individual for the prevention or treatment of disease. The first formal demonstration of passive immunization involved successful treatment of diphtheria and tetanus in…

Vaccine Manufacturing

The vast majority of the more than 5 billion doses of vaccines manufactured worldwide each year are given to perfectly healthy people. It is this fact that drives the requirements for vaccines to be among the most rigorously designed, monitored,…

The Vaccine Industry

The vaccine industry is composed of companies that are engaged in any of the following activities: research (including that performed in industry and biotech), development, manufacture, sales, marketing, or distribution of vaccines. They receive their revenue chiefly from sales of…

Correlates of Protection

Peter Gilbert, PhD Professor Biostatistics Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle Washington United States Research Professor Biostatistics University of Washington, Seattle Washington United States The determination of a correlate of protection (CoP) by a vaccine is often critical to its development,…

Non-specific Effects of Vaccines

INTRODUCTION In addition to protecting against their target disease, vaccines can induce changes in the immune system that have broader effects. As early as in the 1800s, it was noted that smallpox vaccination was associated with protection against unrelated infections.…

Vaccine Immunology

Generating vaccine-mediated protection is a complex challenge. Up to the year 2000, vaccines have largely been developed empirically, with little or no understanding of how they activate the immune system. Subsequently, the antigens to be included in vaccines such as…