Universal protein vaccines against Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B, Streptococcus pneumoniae and influenza

Traditional vaccines can only be really effective when the antigenic diversity or variability of the micro-organisms in the same bacterial species or viral family is no more than marginally different, and when protection is mainly dependent from antibody-mediated immunity. One solution is to identify the antigens common to all of the strains in a species or family that are significantly capable of eliciting inactivating antibodies. A number of attempts have recently been made to develop vaccines with conserved and highly immunogenic antigens made using various and sometimes highly innovative approaches. Although none of these vaccines has yet been licensed for human use, some have been widely studied in experimental animals and humans, and seem to increase the possibility of preventing previously uncovered or only partially covered infectious diseases. This review provides a detailed description of the most important new information concerning protein vaccines against influenza and meningococcal and pneumococcal diseases.