Dear reader,
This issue of Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics starts with a Portrait of Dr. Jean Patterson of University of Texas (p 2992), and Profile of the biotech company TxCell (Boissel, p 2995).
Next you will find four articles on Immunotherapy: reviews on treatment options for advanced renal cell carcinoma patients (Gill, p 2997), subjects with substance-use disorders such as drug abuse (Pravetoni, p 3005), and on novel GM-CSF-based vaccines (Yu, p 3020), and a clinical study investigating dendritic cell-based vaccines against recurrent herpes (Leplina, p 3029).
The Influenza section presents a cost-effectiveness study on the high-dose vaccine in seniors (Becker, p 3036), a Phase 3 trial of immunogenicity of adjuvanted and non-adjuvanted TIV in the elderly (Ruiz-Palacios, p 3043), a report on dual immunization with influenza and pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines (Zhang, p 3056), a review on vaccination in pregnancy (Sakala, p 3065), and a Phase 3 safety and immunogenicity study of intramuscular quadrivalent vaccination of children (Pepin, p 3072).
Six articles on Novel Vaccines investigate safety, immunogenicity and optimal dose of a herpes simplex virus DNA vaccine (Dutton, p 3079), safety and immunogenicity of a group A streptococcal M protein-based vaccine (Batzloff, p 3089), immunotherapies against Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to antibiotics (Xiao, p 3097), the diversity of BCG strains and the need for standardization of vaccine development (Antas, p 3099), the prospects of subunit vaccines against bacterial pathogens and their advancement into clinical trials (McClean, p 3103), and an immunocompetent murine model for the characterization of the 2016 Zika virus (Zhang, p 3107).
The Licensed Vaccines section includes a commentary on mumps virus pathogenesis (Gouma, p 3110), comparison of different schedules for a two-dose varicella vaccine (Deng, p 3113), an analysis of the seroconversion rate in one-year-olds after the first dose of measles vaccine (Zahraei, p 3118), a preclinical study of low doses of Sabin-inactivated poliovirus vaccine (Ma, p 3125), a commentary on the safety of maternal immunization (Regan, p 3132), and a meeting report from the 1st World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders Congress in Milan, Italy (Esposito, p 3137).
We are happy to introduce two Public Health articles, including a qualitative study from India on the motivation of parents and pediatricians to vaccinate children in the private sector (George, p 3139) and a systematic review on the benefits of pharmacies as sites of adult vaccination (Burson, p 3146).
The Hepatitis section consists of a review of tolerability and immunogenicity of live attenuated hepatitis A vaccine in children (Rao, p 3160) and a commentary on the best strategy to prevent hepatitis B infection in HIV patients (Vargas, p 3166).
In addition, we present a review of parents’ decision-making in childhood vaccine Acceptance (Corben, p 3168) and an interim analysis of a large-scale clinical trial with the HPV-16/18 AS04-adjuvanted vaccine in adolescents (Lehtinen, p 3177).
Finally, we are happy to introduce a Special Section based on the 9th Vaccine Renaissance conference in Providence, RI, U.S. Work presented at the meeting and in the articles in this Special Section is summarized in an Editorial by conference organizer Dr. Anne S. De Groot (p 3186).
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, PhD
Acquisitions Editor