Interdisciplinary symposium on challenges and opportunities for vaccines: A comprehensive approach of current and future vaccine strategies to improve vaccine effectiveness in complex chronic infectious contexts
Vaccination is a key public health intervention, but vaccine immunogenicity, efficacy, and effectiveness vary geographically. These variations are not yet fully understood but are likely influenced by factors such as chronic infections, environmental and genetic differences, social and behavioral factors, and operational challenges, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To address these issues, the “International Symposium on Global Challenges and Opportunities for Vaccines” was held in Kloster Bernried, Germany, bringing together international scientists and stakeholders. Key discussions included: (1) Compromised vaccine immunogenicity due to helminth infections, (2) new vaccine approaches in vaccine development, (3) new frontiers in therapeutic vaccination, (4) challenges of vaccine trials, especially in low-resource settings, and (5) conceptualizing vaccine confidence in low and high resource contexts. The symposium highlighted the challenges of conducting vaccine trials in LMICs, such as participant follow-up, logistics, resources, and building trust. The main recommendation was to improve future vaccine trial designs through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach, including tools to evaluate vaccine immunogenicity, efficacy, and effectiveness.
Authors
- Maria Yazdanbakhsh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7666-1441)
- Anahita Fathi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9351-9471)
- Stefanie J. Klug (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3523-1362)
- Minka Breloer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6199-4908)
- Alison M. Elliott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2818-9549)
- Benjamin Mordmüller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9101-2768)
- Greet Hendrickx (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0099-272X)
- Johannes U. Mayer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6225-7803)
- Roland Lang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0502-3677)
- Christian Bogdan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2300-0631)
- Marrium Habib
- Justin Komguep Nono (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6153-9729)
- Esther Ndungo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9975-7032)
- Ulrike Protzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9421-1911)
- Clarissa Prazeres da Costa
- Meral Esen
- Ayôla Akim Adégnika (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3197-5946)
- Alex S. Siebner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7412-8943)
- Vanesa Osmani
Institutions
- University of London (GB)
- University of Maryland, Baltimore (US)
- Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
- Radboud University Medical Center (NL)
- Universitätsklinikum Erlangen (DE)
- University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Centre de Recherche Médicales de Lambaréné (GA)
- University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE)
- Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (NL)
- German Center for Infection Research (DE)
- Infectious Diseases Institute (UG)
- Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation (CM)
- Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene (DE)
- Technical University of Munich (DE)
- HAW Hamburg (DE)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- Uganda Virus Research Institute (UG)
- Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Vaccine X
- Published
- 2025-02-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvacx.2025.100615
- Primary Topic
- Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Medical Research Council