Advancements in Vaccination Strategies: From Historical Milestones to Modern Innovations in Viral Disease Prevention and Public Health
Advancements in Vaccination Strategies: From Historical Milestones to Modern Innovations in Viral Disease Prevention and Public Health
Kashif Abdaal, Aneeza Batool, Muhammad Tariq Navid*, Saeed Ahmed, Asma Saleem Qazi, Waseem Safdar, Haidar Ali, Mobeen Ur Rashid, Somia Rafaqat
ABSTRACT
Vaccines have improved global health by eradicating infectious diseases. Yet ongoing research on vaccines is crucial for addressing persistent infections including the challenging ones like malaria and tuberculosis and exploring their potential applications in non-infectious conditions like Alzheimer’s. Traditional vaccines such as: live attenuated and inactivated have long been treated as effective against infectious diseases. However, recent advancements in vaccine development strategies including mRNA- and recombinant DNA technologies along with viral vector-based vaccines containing specific DNA segment(s) of an infectious pathogen(s), nanoparticle-based and plant-based delivery mechanisms have proven as more targeted and adaptable approaches to boost immune responses. Hence, it proves the vaccines as a big breakthrough in preventive and therapeutic medicine over 200 years and named “Future Medicine”. To assess vaccine safety and efficacy, scientists are now using various model animals like mice, ferrets, pigs, and nonhuman primates before using them for human trials. The other side of successful vaccine intervention, however, contains various issues that need to be rectified. These concerns primarily depend on target pathogen selection, novel vaccine efficacy, development, and duration of optimum immunological responses, selection of appropriate animal model, need for booster dose, route of administration, and post-administration safety and post-marketing analysis (social and economic concerns). All these steps are important for a vaccine that leads to its success in preventing infectious diseases. It is crucial to address these challenges to make safer vaccines for effective infectious disease control and prevention to save humanity. Addressing challenges in vaccination coverage and gaps is crucial for global health. Vaccines have played a crucial role in global health preventing diseases and saving lives as evident from the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines in response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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