Introduction to vaccine development

A brief history of vaccination from the early days of inoculation to the breakthrough technologies currently being utilized is described. An overview of the intricacies of the immune system functionality provides the fundamental concepts employed in vaccine development and the inherent challenges associated with combatting the dynamic response of the human body to a variety of infectious diseases. Current vaccine technologies available for treatment of several devastating afflictions are summarized along with a comparison of the advantages and challenges associated with the various vaccine platforms in use and in development today. An outline of the substantial contributions of dedicated scientists serves as an introduction to the groundbreaking success and advancement in vaccine research described throughout the subsequent chapters of this book.