Every person who reads this Focus issue on Vaccines is likely to have been vaccinated at some point in their life. Vaccination has made important contributions to human health and has resulted in numerous success stories — including the eradication of smallpox and, despite some recent hiccups (see In the News on page 222), the virtual elimination of polio. In terms of HIV, several vaccines have shown promise for the control of infection, as discussed by Harriet Robinson (page 239). On page 283, Andrew McMichael and Tomâs Hanke discuss the characteristics of an effective CD8+ T-cell response against HIV and the factors that are likely to influence vaccine success. On page 251, Rafi Ahmed and colleagues describe the factors that influence the formation of memory T cells, which are important considerations for the optimization of vaccine strategies.
In contrast to the success of vaccination against certain pathogens, the immunotherapy of chronic infections and cancer has not been quite so successful. But, as discussed by Drew Pardoll on page 227, recent insights are now permitting the development of new immunotherapies for these diseases.
