title: New Horizons in the Development of Novel Needle-Free Immunization Strategies to Increase Vaccination Efficacy.
abstract: The young twenty-first century has already brought several medical advances, such as a functional artificial human liver created from stem cells, improved antiviral (e.g., against HIV) and cancer (e.g., against breast cancer) therapies, interventions controlling cardiovascular diseases, and development of new and optimized vaccines (e.g., HPV vaccine). However, despite this substantial progress and the achievements of the last century, humans still suffer considerably from diseases, especially from infectious diseases. Thus, almost one-fourth of all deaths worldwide are caused directly or indirectly by infectious agents. Although vaccination has led to the control of many diseases, including smallpox, diphtheria, and tetanus, emerging diseases are still not completely contained. Furthermore, pathogens such as Bordetella pertussis undergo alterations making adaptation of the respective vaccine necessary. Moreover, insufficient implementation of vaccination campaigns leads to re-emergence of diseases which were believed to be already under control (e.g., poliomyelitis). Therefore, novel vaccination strategies need to be developed in order to meet the current challenges including lack of compliance, safety issues, and logistic constraints. In this context, mucosal and transdermal approaches constitute promising noninvasive vaccination strategies able to match these demands.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany. Kai.Schulze@helmholtz-hzi.de.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.affiliation: Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany. Thomas.Ebensen@helmholtz-hzi.de.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ebensen
authors.affiliation: Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Riese
authors.affiliation: Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Blair
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Prochnow
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Delivery, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Braunschweig, Germany.|Department of Pharmacy, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
authors.forename: Claus-Michael
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lehr
authors.affiliation: Department of Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), Braunschweig, Germany.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Guzmán
mesh_terms: D004333:Drug Administration Routes; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D009339:Needles; D014611:Vaccination / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D014612:Vaccines