DEPARTMENT OF COMPARATIVE PATHOBIOLOGY
Aseem K. Pandey, BVSc
& AH, MVSc
Graduate Student in Molecular Virology
Department of Comparative Pathobiology
Purdue
University
“Immunomodulation As A Means
To Enhance Influenza Vaccine Efficacy”
Thursday, October 25,
2007
VPTH 112
3:30 pm
ABSTRACT:
Elderly population in the world, including the United States,
has increased considerably during the last century. With aging, the ability to
resist infectious diseases and respond to preventive vaccinations decreases
significantly. Disease burden and death toll is highest among the
elderly in each flu season. For example, an estimated 90% of the 36,000
deaths on average that are attributed to influenza annually in the United States
occur in persons over 65 years. Although, the elderly are a major target group
for annual influenza vaccination, the current vaccine is only 30-40% effective
in preventing influenza-like illness in elderly compared to 70-90% efficacy in
healthy younger adults. A decline in both innate and adaptive immune functions
is a hallmark of aging, which affects the ability to resist infectious diseases
and respond to preventive and therapeutic vaccinations. New strategies should
be explored for developing influenza vaccines taking into consideration the
limitations of the immune system in elderly. The use of immunomodulators such
as flagellin, defensin and TLR5 could enhance vaccine efficacy by upregulating
innate and adaptive immune responses. We plan to demonstrate the effectiveness
of our proposed strategy in a preclinical animal model for improving immune
responses to influenza vaccines as an example. We will test the efficacy of the
adenoviral vector based influenza vaccine in young and aged mice with or
without the use of an immunomodulator. This strategy will help us to design
effective vaccines and immunotherapeutics for elderly and also to shorten the
time interval between immunization and induction of a protective immune
response for influenza pandemic preparedness.