Effros Rita B
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, 10833 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1732 USA.
Immunol Allergy Clin North Am. 2003 Feb;23(1):41-55. doi: 10.1016/s0889-8561(02)00055-3.
Scientists involved in vaccine research and development face the challenge of protecting the ever-increasing elderly population from a broad spectrum of infectious diseases. The optimal vaccine-induced immune response to confer protection is undefined for many pathogens, and the field of vaccine research is undergoing a gradual shift from the original focus on humoral immunity to a focus that incorporates cellular and innate immune components. The age-related changes in various aspects of immune function, including an increase in a population of T cells that shows signs of replicative senescence, underscore the need to enhance research aimed at designing vaccines to meet the unique requirements of the elderly population.
参与疫苗研发的科学家面临着一项挑战，即要保护日益增长的老年人群体免受多种传染病的侵害。对于许多病原体而言，能提供保护的最佳疫苗诱导免疫反应尚不明确，并且疫苗研究领域正逐渐从最初对体液免疫的关注转向纳入细胞免疫和先天免疫成分的关注。免疫功能各个方面与年龄相关的变化，包括显示出复制性衰老迹象的T细胞群体增加，凸显了加强旨在设计满足老年人群体独特需求的疫苗的研究的必要性。
