Is It Possible to Develop a “Universal” Influenza Virus Vaccine?

Development of optimal vaccines for influenza is challenging, in part as a result of the high antigenic variability in field strains associated with genetic shift from reassortment and genetic drift from point mutations.Discovery of conserved antigenic sites on the hemagglutinin (HA) protein for neutralizing antibodies suggested the possibility that influenza vaccines could be developed that induce focused antibody responses to the conserved neutralizing determinants, especially the HA stem region.Recent studies have focused on the antigenicity and immunogenicity of such domains, using monoclonal antibodies and candidate-engineered HA stem-based vaccines.Much progress has been made, but we still do not fully understand the biology of the immune response to this unique antigenic region. GREAT DEBATESWhat are the most interesting topics likely to come up over dinner or drinks with your colleagues?Or, more importantly, what are the topics that don't come up because they are a little too controversial?In Immune Memory and Vaccines: Great Debates, Editors Rafi Ahmed and Shane Crotty have put together a collection of articles on such questions, written by thought leaders in these fields, with the freedom to talk about the issues as they see fit.This short, innovative format aims to bring a fresh perspective by encouraging authors to be opinionated, focus on what is most interesting and current, and avoid restating introductory material covered in many other reviews.The Editors posed 13 interesting questions critical for our understanding of vaccines and immune memory to a broad group of experts in the field.In each case, several different perspectives are provided.Note that while each author knew that there were additional scientists addressing the same question, they did not know who these authors were, which ensured the independence of the opinions and perspectives expressed in each article.Our hope is that readers enjoy these articles and that they trigger many more conversations on these important topics.