Precision immunization: a new trend in human vaccination

Abstract

Vaccination has been one of the major revolutions in the history of human health. Vaccination programs have targeted entire populations such as infants or elderly subjects as a matter of being efficient with time and resources. These general populations are heterogeneous in terms of factors such as ethnicity, health status, and socio-economics. Thus, there have been variations in the safety and effectiveness profiles of certain vaccinations according to current population-wide strategies. As the concept of precision medicine has been raised in recent years, many researchers have suggested that vaccines could be administered more precisely in terms of particular target populations, vaccine formulations, regimens, and dosage levels. This review addresses the concept and framework of precision immunization, summarizes recent and representative clinical trials of among specific populations, mentions important factors to be addressed in customizing vaccinations, and provides suggestions on the establishment of precision immunization with the goal of maximizing the effectiveness of vaccines in general.