Development of vaccines for Candida albicans: fighting a skilled transformer

Two univalent subunit vaccines that are based on major virulence traits of Candida albicans have completed Phase I clinical trials in recent years. Although it is hoped that at least one will become the first antifungal vaccine approved for human use, there are some major obstacles to achieving this. The difficulties mostly arise from the remarkable ability of C. albicans to deceive the host immune system. In this Opinion article, I argue that the development of a multivalent vaccine that induces an immune response against multiple, unrelated virulence traits of this human commensal fungus and opportunistic pathogen may be a better approach.