Dear reader,
In this issue of Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, we are happy to present the second part of the Special Focus on Maternal Immunization. The first part, published in issue 12-4, consisted of a general introduction to the topic as well as specific discussions of tetanus and hepatitis vaccination in pregnancy, public attitudes to maternal immunization and other reviews and research articles.
This second part contains reviews of ethical issues in maternal immunization (Beeler, p 1952) and safety of HPV vaccination (Bonde, p 1960), an analysis of maternal and infant outcomes following pertussis vaccination (Berenson, p 1965) as well as a literature review of pertussis vaccination in pregnancy (Healy, p 1972). Next, six research articles examine knowledge and attitudes towards pertussis vaccination in Italian mothers (Agricola, p 1982), decision-making in maternal influenza immunization (Frew, p 1989) and its perception among Korean women (Jung, p 1997), cost-effectiveness of maternal hepatitis E vaccination in endemic regions (Zhao, p 2003), adverse event surveillance systems for pregnant women and infants (Cassidy, p 2010), and interventions to promote the uptake of Tdap vaccine in pregnancy (Chamberlain, p 2017).
This year marks an important anniversary in the world of vaccinology. 220 years ago, Edward Jenner used cowpox blisters as an experimental vaccine against smallpox. This ground-breaking discovery that revolutionized medicine, and resulted in the only medical intervention to eliminate a disease from the world, is put into context by the science historian Andrea Rusnock (p 2025).
The Public Health section introduces a twin study on the cost of lifetime vaccination in a fully immunized western European and vaccine-related expenditures in western European countries (Ethgen, p 2029 & p 2038), an examination of potentially risky schedules for pediatric vaccines (Gras, p 2046), and a related Letter on acceptable delay in hepatitis B immunization (Kane, p 2053) followed by a Reply Letter (Dubos, p 2057).
We present four Delivery articles, including a report on mutated L. monocytogenes as a safe vaccine delivery platform (Dowd, p 2059), reviews on adenoviral vectors in combating infections and cancers (Zhang, p 2064) and particle-constituted microneedle arrays for subcutaneous application (Wang, p 2075), and a commentary on bio-inspired virus-like nanovesicles (Mi, p 2090).
The Novel Vaccines section offers articles on preclinical trials of AS01-adjuvanted herpes zoster subunit vaccine (Fochesato, p 2092), Advax adjuvant in an RSV vaccine candidate (Wong, p 2096) and a novel conjugate cytomegalovirus vaccine (Finnefrock, p 2106), as well as a commentary on epitope-focused vaccines (Oscherwitz, p 2113).
Four Pneumococcus-related research articles investigate the antibody response to PCV-13 in HIV patients (Rossheim, p 2117), the surveillance of pneumococcal diseases in central and eastern Europe (Ceyhan, p 2124), antibody responses to PPV-23 in adults (Ciprero, p 2135), and safety and immunogenicity of single-dose PPV-23 (Ciprero, p 2142). Two articles look at Meningococcal vaccines: a cost-effectiveness analysis of the multicomponent Bexsero vaccine (Gasparini, p 2148) and the long-term immunogenicity of quadrivalent MenACWY-TT vaccine (Quiambao, p 2162).
An Immunotherapy article introduces the role of repulsive guidance molecule a in DC activation (Xu, p 2169). Among Licensed Vaccines we investigate the epidemiology of measles in Dongguan, China, and the impact of vaccination (Han, p 2181) and safety and immunogenicity of MMRV vaccine produced by an alternative process (Marshall, p 2188).
Finally, we present a prospective study of Hepatitis B vaccination in diabetes patients (Van Der Meeren, p 2197), a commentary on freedom vs. coercion in vaccine Acceptance (Patryn, p 2204), and a study on the state of influenza vaccination in the Americas (Ropero-Álvarez, p 2206).
Our monthly News, Policy and Profiles (NP&P) track offers a selection of the latest news in the field of vaccines and immunotherapeutics. In this section we also regularly publish opinion pieces on timely, interesting and controversial topics related to vaccines and immunotherapeutics, profiles of companies and organizations, as well as portraits of distinguished scientists in our field. Please contact Acquisitions Editor Adam Weiss ( [email protected]) with your ideas for commentaries, opinion pieces, profiles and portraits. Your suggestions for and contributions to our N&P&P track are always welcome!
Sincerely,
Ronald Ellis, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
Adam Weiss
Acquisitions Editor