New strategies to overcome the drawbacks of currently available flu vaccines

Vaccination represents the most efficient tool to control morbidity and mortality resulting from influenza infections in humans. The currently licensed influenza vaccines provide good protection levels in healthy adults, whereas lower protection is generally achieved in ageing individuals who are at a higher risk of developing severe clinical manifestations. Future improvements in influenza vaccines should address the needs of high risk groups including the elderly, small children and chronic patients. Recently, due to the increased incidence of avian influenza pandemic outbreaks, the prevention of a potential human influenza pandemic turned into another crucial issue in the influenza vaccination field. The development and validation of manufacturing processes for efficient and safe pandemic vaccines became one of the top priorities of health, regulatory and funding agencies all over the world. In the pandemic context, the development of novel vaccines administered via the mucosal route may play a significant role by reducing virus shedding from infected individuals. This chapter provides insights in the limitations of existing manufacturing processes, new approaches to overcome limitation in vaccine production, mechanisms of action of current vaccines and discuss potential strategies to improve the immunogenicity and efficacy of influenza vaccines.