Avian influenza (AI) H9N2 is a low pathogenic virus subtype belonging to Orthomyxoviridae family. Given the prevalence of this subtype as an infectious agent in poultry industry, special attention has been always directed toward the development of vaccine production against this infection. The vaccine of this infection is produced by killing the virus and using a mixture of inactivated antigen ...

Yersinia pestis, the causative organism of the plague, has played an important role in shaping human history. Plague is an illness that may manifest in bubonic, pneumonic, or septicemic form. Natural outbreaks devastated entire populations in medieval times and an estimated 200 million humans were killed by plague throughout history. The organism can still be found today throughout the world, i...

Recombinant vectors can be used to deliver antigens and to stimulate immune responses in humans. Viral vectors possess various intrinsic properties which may lend to advantages and disadvantages for usage for a given therapeutic application [reviewed by Larocca and Schlom] [1]. The safety and flexibility of recombinant viral vectors have lead to their usage in gene therapy, virotherapy, and vac...

The mechanisms of immune protection against human TB, a disease that causes 2 million deaths world-wide each year, are not fully known. T cell immunity is critical for protection [1,2]; therefore, the current TB vaccine, bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and most new vaccines under development aim to induce this immunity. Most of these developmental vaccines [1–4] are designed to boost pre-existin...

The threat of using variola virus in a bioterrorist attack urged different countries to renew the production of traditional vaccines and develop new generations of smallpox vaccines. Manufacturers try to combine smallpox vaccine past experience with technological advances in vaccine development to achieve protection similar to that of the traditional vaccines with a higher level of safety and f...

Haemophilus influenzae, a major cause of meningitis in young children leading to death and other neurological sequelae. The disease leaves 15 to 35% of the survivors with permanent disabilities, such as, mental retardation or deafness. Despite the availability of new and more powerful antibiotics children with Hib meningitis still suffer from high mortality or morbidity. The emergence of multir...

Background: Infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in patients who suffer from impaired immune responses and chronic diseases such as cystic fibrosis. At present, aggressive antibiotic therapy is the only choice for management of P. aeruginosa infections, but emergence of highly resistant strains necessitated the development of novel alt...

Malaria is a highly prevalent disease caused by infection by Plasmodium spp., which infect hepatocytes and erythrocytes. Blood-stage infections cause devastating symptoms and can persist for years. Antibodies and CD4(+) T cells are thought to protect against blood-stage infections. However, there has been considerable difficulty in developing an efficacious malaria vaccine, highlighting our inc...