Dear reader,
We are delighted to present a Special Issue of Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics on Asia Endemic Diseases, Guest-Edited by Dr. Fengcai Zhu of Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China. The 33 articles in the Special Issue, divided into seven sections, discuss cutting-edge vaccinology research in one of the faster-developing regions for such work.
The issue starts with a Meeting Report from the 7th Asian ASVAC Conference, held in Myanmar, in September 2019 (Linn, p 1476). The theme of the meeting was sustaining health security in Asia through vaccination.
Seven articles on Acceptance include a study on inequality in measles vaccination coverage in Southeast Asia (Gao, p 1485), a commentary on vaccination of Chinese healthcare workers (Wang, p 1498), a review of vaccine coverage in a vulnerable population in India (Pathak, p 1502), a commentary on adult vaccination in India (Lahariya, p 1508), a survey among Malaysian health professionals on how to address hesitancy (Wong, p 1511), a report on 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine coverage among older patients in Japan (Kawakami, p 1521), and an investigation of the potential increase of tetanus toxoid vaccine acceptance following frequent antenatal care visits (Iqbal, p 1529).
The Hepatitis section features a review of progress in hepatitis B vaccine development and implementation (Zhao, p 1533), evaluation of the impact of freezing on hepatitis E vaccine (Liang, p 1545), characterization of epitope conformations on hepatitis E virus and the effect on antibody neutralization (He, p 1554), a review of hepatitis A vaccination (Zhang, p 1565), and a survey of hepatitis A vaccination coverage in children in rural China (Liu, p 1574).
Four research articles on EV71 report on the willingness of Chinese parents to vaccinate their children (Wang, p 1579), preclinical safety, and immunogenicity of a combined vaccine for EV71 and Coxsackievirus A16 (Yang, p 1586), the presence and dynamics of neutralizing antibodies following vaccination (Wang, p 1595), and the development of a VLP vaccine produced in Pichia pastoris (Yang, p 1602).
The HPV segment presents a review on the influence of social and cultural norms in Asia on HPV vaccine hesitancy (Wong, p 1611), a cost-effectiveness assessment of 2-dose vaccination in Chinese girls (Luo, p 1623), an immunogenicity study of the bivalent vaccine produced in E. coli (Yu, p 1630), a lot-to-lot consistency trial of this vaccine in adult women (Su, p 1636), an epidemiological characterization of HPV infection in a Chinese county (Yang, p 1645), and a survey of fathers’ involvement in vaccine decision-making (Egawa-Takata, p 1653).
Five articles on Influenza investigate its epidemiology in Asian temperate and tropical zones (Young, p 1659), the mortality burden from seasonal disease in China (Qi, p 1668), barriers to vaccination in Hong Kong (Sun, p 1675), infection and vaccination among children in Beijing (Zhang, p 1685), and the immunogenicity and safety of inactivated quadrivalent vaccine (Li, p 1691).
Two research studies on Novel Vaccines and MAbs highlight a polysaccharide from Poria cocos for enhancing the immunogenicity of anthrax vaccine (Liu, p 1699) and immunological characteristics of a novel MAb for staphylococcal enterotoxin B (Liu, p 1708).
Finally, the section on Vaccination in the Field presents an estimate of public health and economic impact of PCV introduction in Malaysia (Shafie, p 1719), characterization of factors determining vaccine decision-making in Southeast Asian countries (Taychakhoonavudh, p 1728), and a risk assessment of contracting mumps in children who received one vaccine dose (Sun, p 1738).
We hope that this Special Issue on vaccine development and use in Asia will be of interest to researchers and clinicians from around the world.
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,