Immunosenescence and vaccination

The problems associated with the ageing immune system and vaccination were discussed recently at an international workshop at the Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research, Compton, UK, 6-7 October, 2005. This is a commentary on that session. The meeting included discussions on T and B cell differentiation and ageing, as well as dendritic cell and neutrophil data, with the emphasis on T cell immunosenescence, perceived as the most important hindrance to satisfactory responses to vaccines in the elderly. The main questions to be addressed in this context are the reasons for dysfunctionality of T cells in the elderly and what to do to improve T cell function. Several of the major reasons for poor T cell responses in the elderly were discussed; however, many important questions remain: The next meeting at the Jenner Institute may already be able to provide some of the answers to these questions, which have serious implications for public health issues in increasingly elderly populations.