Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in Context
Childhood vaccines have been the cornerstone tool of public health over the past century. A major barrier to neonatal vaccination is the “immaturity” of the infant immune system and the inefficiency of conventional vaccine approaches at inducing immunity at birth. While much of the literature on fet...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Immunology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.634749/full |
| _version_ | 1818417992035205120 |
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| author | Perri C. Callaway Perri C. Callaway Lila A. Farrington Margaret E. Feeney Margaret E. Feeney |
| author_facet | Perri C. Callaway Perri C. Callaway Lila A. Farrington Margaret E. Feeney Margaret E. Feeney |
| author_sort | Perri C. Callaway |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Childhood vaccines have been the cornerstone tool of public health over the past century. A major barrier to neonatal vaccination is the “immaturity” of the infant immune system and the inefficiency of conventional vaccine approaches at inducing immunity at birth. While much of the literature on fetal and neonatal immunity has focused on the early life propensity toward immune tolerance, recent studies indicate that the fetus is more immunologically capable than previously thought, and can, in some circumstances, mount adaptive B and T cell responses to perinatal pathogens in utero. Although significant hurdles remain before these findings can be translated into vaccines and other protective strategies, they should lend optimism to the prospect that neonatal and even fetal vaccination is achievable. Next steps toward this goal should include efforts to define the conditions for optimal stimulation of infant immune responses, including antigen timing, dose, and route of delivery, as well as antigen presentation pathways and co-stimulatory requirements. A better understanding of these factors will enable optimal deployment of vaccines against malaria and other pathogens to protect infants during their period of greatest vulnerability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:15:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1f30b15fd6e5457bb580ad79c5d36d09 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-3224 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:15:35Z |
| publishDate | 2021-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Immunology |
| spelling | doaj.art-1f30b15fd6e5457bb580ad79c5d36d092022-12-21T23:01:38ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Immunology1664-32242021-02-011210.3389/fimmu.2021.634749634749Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in ContextPerri C. Callaway0Perri C. Callaway1Lila A. Farrington2Margaret E. Feeney3Margaret E. Feeney4Infectious Diseases and Immunity Graduate Group, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United StatesDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesDepartment of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United StatesChildhood vaccines have been the cornerstone tool of public health over the past century. A major barrier to neonatal vaccination is the “immaturity” of the infant immune system and the inefficiency of conventional vaccine approaches at inducing immunity at birth. While much of the literature on fetal and neonatal immunity has focused on the early life propensity toward immune tolerance, recent studies indicate that the fetus is more immunologically capable than previously thought, and can, in some circumstances, mount adaptive B and T cell responses to perinatal pathogens in utero. Although significant hurdles remain before these findings can be translated into vaccines and other protective strategies, they should lend optimism to the prospect that neonatal and even fetal vaccination is achievable. Next steps toward this goal should include efforts to define the conditions for optimal stimulation of infant immune responses, including antigen timing, dose, and route of delivery, as well as antigen presentation pathways and co-stimulatory requirements. A better understanding of these factors will enable optimal deployment of vaccines against malaria and other pathogens to protect infants during their period of greatest vulnerability.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.634749/fullfetal immunityneonatal immunitymalariaplasmodiumneonatal vaccination |
| spellingShingle | Perri C. Callaway Perri C. Callaway Lila A. Farrington Margaret E. Feeney Margaret E. Feeney Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in Context Frontiers in Immunology fetal immunity neonatal immunity malaria plasmodium neonatal vaccination |
| title | Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in Context |
| title_full | Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in Context |
| title_fullStr | Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in Context |
| title_full_unstemmed | Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in Context |
| title_short | Malaria and Early Life Immunity: Competence in Context |
| title_sort | malaria and early life immunity competence in context |
| topic | fetal immunity neonatal immunity malaria plasmodium neonatal vaccination |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.634749/full |
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