Vaccination in the elderly: an immunological perspective.
Successful vaccination of the elderly against important infectious pathogens that cause high morbidity and mortality represents a growing public health priority. Building on the theme of aging and immunosenescence, we review mechanisms of human immunosenescence and the immune response to currently licensed vaccines. We discuss the difficulties in identifying the risk factors that, in addition to aging, cause immunosenescence and address the relative paucity of vaccine studies in the elderly. We conclude that vaccine responses are blunted in the elderly compared with that of healthy young adults. However, it is also clear that our understanding of the mechanisms underlying immunosenescence is limited and much remains to be learned to improve the effectiveness of next generation vaccines.
Chen
Wilbur H
WH
Center for Vaccine Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. wchen@medicine.umaryland.edu
Kozlovsky
Bernard F
BF
Effros
Rita B
RB
Grubeck-Loebenstein
Beatrix
B
Edelman
Robert
R
Sztein
Marcelo B
MB
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D000917:Antibody Formation; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D014611:Vaccination; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D014765:Viral Vaccines