Dear reader,
We are delighted to present a Special Issue on Influenza Vaccines, commemorating the 100th anniversary of Pandemic Flu, which was organized in collaboration with our Guest Editor and HV&I Editorial Board member Dr. Susanna Esposito of University of Milan.
Since our previous Special Issue on Influenza Vaccines (Issue 8-1 in 2012), new developments have highlighted the importance to public health of influenza biology and pathogenicity, vaccine safety and efficacy, vaccine acceptance and use, and many other aspects of influenza vaccine research and development. Tremendous progress has been made in diversifying the world's influenza vaccine portfolio and improving protection for vaccinees. However, many milestones are yet to be reached, e.g., the development of universal influenza vaccines has seen only limited progress, a fact made all too obvious this season, which has suffered among the worst rates of vaccine efficacy in years.
This year we commemorate the 100-year anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic, an especially serious epidemic causing 500 million cases and up to 100 million deaths (∼5% of world's total population). The H1N1 strain was responsible for the ‘Spanish flu’, and H1N1 caused a limited pandemic in 2009, which—although much less severe—underlined the need for the development of effective preventive measures.
This issue reports on the developments in the field of influenza vaccines. We welcome you to read the Guest Editorial by Dr. Susanna Esposito (p. 504), which provides a detailed introduction and briefly presents the 36 articles in this publication.
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