In the intention-to-treat analysis involving 16,402 subjects, there was a trend toward the prevention of HIV-1 infection among the vaccine recipients, with a vaccine efficacy of 26.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], −4.0 to 47.9; P = 0.08). In the perprotocol analysis involving 12,542 subjects, the vaccine efficacy was 26.2% (95% CI, −13.3 to 51.9; P = 0.16). In the modified intention-to-treat analysis involving 16,395 subjects (with the exclusion of 7 subjects who were found to have had HIV-1 infection at baseline), the vaccine efficacy was 31.2% (95% CI, 1.1 to 52.1; P = 0.04). Vaccination did not affect the degree of viremia or the CD4+ T-cell count in subjects in whom HIV-1 infection was subsequently diagnosed. Conclusions This ALVAC-HIV and AIDSVAX B/E vaccine regimen may reduce the risk of HIV infection in a community-based population with largely heterosexual risk. Vaccination did not affect the viral load or CD4+ count in subjects with HIV infection. Although the results show only a modest benefit, they offer insight for future research. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00223080.)

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Vaccination with ALVAC and AIDSVAX to Prevent HIV-1 Infection in Thailand

background The incidence and severity of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia increase with age in association with a progressive decline in cell-mediated immunity to varicella– zoster virus (VZV). We tested the hypothesis that vaccination against VZV would decrease the incidence, severity, or both of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia among older adults. methods We enrolled 38,546 adults 60 years of age or older in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of an investigational live attenuated Oka/Merck VZV vaccine (“zoster vaccine”). Herpes zoster was diagnosed according to clinical and laboratory criteria. The pain and discomfort associated with herpes zoster were measured repeatedly for six months. The primary end point was the burden of illness due to herpes zoster, a measure affected by the incidence, severity, and duration of the associated pain and discomfort. The secondary end point was the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia. results More than 95 percent of the subjects continued in the study to its completion, with a median of 3.12 years of surveillance for herpes zoster. A total of 957 confirmed cases of herpes zoster (315 among vaccine recipients and 642 among placebo recipients) and 107 cases of postherpetic neuralgia (27 among vaccine recipients and 80 among placebo recipients) were included in the efficacy analysis. The use of the zoster vaccine reduced the burden of illness due to herpes zoster by 61.1 percent (P<0.001), reduced the incidence of postherpetic neuralgia by 66.5 percent (P<0.001), and reduced the incidence of herpes zoster by 51.3 percent (P<0.001). Reactions at the injection site were more frequent among vaccine recipients but were generally mild. conclusions The zoster vaccine markedly reduced morbidity from herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia among older adults.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMoa051016

A vaccine to prevent herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in older adults.

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736(08)61591-3.pdf

Efficacy assessment of a cell-mediated immunity HIV-1 vaccine (the Step Study): a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, test-of-concept trial.

T cells mediate effector functions through a variety of mechanisms. Recently, multiparameter flow cytometry has allowed a simultaneous assessment of the phenotype and multiple effector functions of single T cells; the delineation of T cells into distinct functional populations defines the quality of the response. New evidence suggests that the quality of T-cell responses is crucial for determining the disease outcome to various infections. This Review highlights the importance of using multiparameter flow cytometry to better understand the functional capacity of effector and memory T-cell responses, thereby enabling the development of preventative and therapeutic vaccine strategies for infections.

T-cell quality in memory and protection: implications for vaccine design

Recent Developments in Ring Opening Polymerization of Lactones for Biomedical Applications

Background Conventional vaccine approaches based on delivery of HIV-1 envelope (Env) proteins or peptides derived from Env sequences have failed to generate broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) to the virus. Even with large doses (200 ug) of adjuvanted gp120 proteins administered multiple times to human volunteers, the subsequent antibody response boosts only moderately with each succeeding vaccination, and titers drop precipitously thereafter. We hypothesized that the usual practice of administering a moderate to high antigen doses may be counter productive to the goal of eliciting durable, high-affinity antibody responses. Methods

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Inverse dose-response to gp140 YU2 foldon trimer formulated with aluminum phosphate and ISCOMATRIX® adjuvants

Elements of DNA Vaccine Design

La presente invention porte sur une composition immunogene multivalente ayant 15 conjugues distincts proteine-polysaccharide. Chaque conjugue comprend un polysaccharide capsulaire prepare a partir d'un serotype different de Streptococcus pneumoniae (1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, 22F, 23F ou 33F) conjugue a une proteine porteuse, de preference CRM197. La composition immunogene, formulee de preference comme vaccin sur un adjuvant a base d'aluminium, fournit une large couverture contre une maladie pneumococcique, en particulier chez les bebes et les jeunes enfants.

Michael J. Caulfield

Papers

Inverse dose-response to gp140 YU2 foldon trimer formulated with aluminum phosphate and ISCOMATRIX® adjuvants

Elements of DNA Vaccine Design

Composition vaccinale anti-pneumococcique à conjugué protéine-polysaccharide de valence 15

Particules virales dérivées d'un virus enveloppé

Von einem eingehüllten Virus abgeleitete Virenpartikel