About this Research Topic
Viruses and bacteria can mutate indefinitely which necessitates the constant development of vaccines to show efficacy against the new variants. Disparate results serve as a warning flag that current vaccination strategies need to be reassessed. To prevent future pandemics, there is a greater need to develop effective alternate vaccines which can be delivered directly to the lung compartment thus driving mucosal and cellular immunity where it is most needed.
The lack of correlates of protection against respiratory pathogens is a major challenge when attempting to prioritize candidates for vaccine trials. This is due to our incomplete understanding of immuno-pathogenesis. Another unmet need is uncertainty about the optimal route for respiratory vaccine administration. A pragmatic method to prioritize the most promising vaccine candidates is urgently needed as existing approaches are expensive and time-consuming.
This research topic aims to highlight studies that investigate the transmission dynamics, pathobiology, and immune correlates of emerging respiratory pathogens by evaluating biological material from the site of infection versus the peripheral blood compartment to inform the development of new diagnostics and mucosal-orientated vaccines. These studies will build on our knowledge in the lung-orientated immunology and diagnostics fields.
We, therefore, welcome the submission of articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following sub-topics:
• Development of human lung challenge models to better understand the immunopathogenesis of respiratory infections
• Transmission dynamics of respiratory pathogens
• The development and evaluation of new vaccine formulations
• Phase 1, 2, and 3 vaccine and antiviral randomized controlled trials
The lack of correlates of protection against respiratory pathogens is a major challenge when attempting to prioritize candidates for vaccine trials. This is due to our incomplete understanding of immuno-pathogenesis. Another unmet need is uncertainty about the optimal route for respiratory vaccine administration. A pragmatic method to prioritize the most promising vaccine candidates is urgently needed as existing approaches are expensive and time-consuming.
This research topic aims to highlight studies that investigate the transmission dynamics, pathobiology, and immune correlates of emerging respiratory pathogens by evaluating biological material from the site of infection versus the peripheral blood compartment to inform the development of new diagnostics and mucosal-orientated vaccines. These studies will build on our knowledge in the lung-orientated immunology and diagnostics fields.
We, therefore, welcome the submission of articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following sub-topics:
• Development of human lung challenge models to better understand the immunopathogenesis of respiratory infections
• Transmission dynamics of respiratory pathogens
• The development and evaluation of new vaccine formulations
• Phase 1, 2, and 3 vaccine and antiviral randomized controlled trials
Keywords: Respiratory pathogen, lung mucosal immunology, coronavirus, emerging infectious diseases, mucosal vaccines.
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
