Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 9, 2025
Evaluation of Host-Pathogen Responses and Vaccine Efficacy in Mice
Published on: February 22, 2019
Force of infection: a determinant of vaccine efficacy?
1PATH, 2201 Westlake Avenue, Suite 200, Seattle, WA, USA. dkaslow@path.org.
Abstract:
Vaccine efficacy (VE) can vary in different settings. Of the many proposed setting-dependent determinants of VE, force of infection (FoI) stands out as one of the most direct, proximate, and actionable. As highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic, modifying FoI through non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) use can significantly contribute to controlling transmission and reducing disease incidence and severity absent highly effective pharmaceutical interventions, such as vaccines. Given that NPIs reduce the FoI, the question arises as to if and to what degree FoI, and by extension NPIs, can modify VE, and more practically, as vaccines become available for a pathogen, whether and which NPIs should continue to be used in conjunction with vaccines to optimize controlling transmission and reducing disease incidence and severity.
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