Abbreviations
ACIP: Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices
AID: activation-induced cytidine deaminase
APC: antigen-presenting cell
ASD: autism spectrum disorder
BCG: bacille Calmette-Guérin
BCR: B-cell receptor
CDC: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
CoP: correlate of protection
COVID-19: coronavirus disease 2019
CRM: cross-reactive material
DTaP: diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis
EBOV: Zaire ebolavirus, Ebola virus
EMA: European Medicines Agency
EUA: Emergency Use Authorization
Fab: fragment, antigen-binding
Fc: fragment crystallizable
GBS: Guillain-Barré syndrome
GPCR: G protein-coupled receptor
H1N1: hemagglutinin subtype 1 and neuraminidase subtype 1
H3N2: hemagglutinin subtype 3 and neuraminidase subtype 2
HA: hemagglutinin
Hib: Haemophilus influenzae type b
HIV: human immunodeficiency virus
HPV: human papillomavirus
Ig: immunoglobulin
IIV: inactivated influenza vaccine
IOM: Institute of Medicine (now National Academy of Medicine)
IPV: inactivated poliovirus (vaccine)
JE: Japanese encephalitis
mCoP: mechanistic correlate of protection
MeV: measles virus
MMR: measles-mumps-rubella
MMRV: measles-mumps-rubella-varicella
mAbs: monoclonal antibodies
mRNA: messenger RNA
nCoP: nonmechanistic correlate of protection
PCV: pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
PRP: polyribosylribitol phosphate
RBD: receptor binding domain
RSV: respiratory syncytial virus
SAE: serious adverse event
SARS-CoV-2: severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
SIDS: sudden infant death syndrome
TB: Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Td: tetanus toxoid and reduced diphtheria toxoid
Tdap: tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, acellular pertussis
VZV: varicella-zoster virus
WHO: World Health Organization
The historical impact of infectious diseases is evident in the high mortality rates in young children and adults and the disruption that these diseases have caused in emerging societies. The rise of civilization in conjunction with the domestication of plants and animals permitted people to live in denser communities with each other and with their animals. Such proximity provided ideal breeding grounds for infectious pathogens, and their spread resulted in epidemics throughout the world. As people began to question the underlying causes of disease and the apparent protection to reinfection afforded to some survivors of a disease, ideas of immunity and disease prevention were born, apparently as early as the 5th century.
The concept of immunity goes back at least to the 17th century when emperor K’ang of China documented his practice of variolation, or inoculation, of his troops and his own children with smallpox to confer protection from the disease (Hopkins, 2002). Variolation involved taking liquid from a smallpox pustule of an infected patient, cutting the skin of an uninfected person, and then introducing the inoculum. Records from the 18th century note that enslaved Africans brought to the U.S. bore scars from smallpox variolation and were thought to be immune to the disease. Variolation against smallpox was also reported by Lady Mary Montagu during her time in Constantinople (1716–1718). Lady Montagu, herself a survivor of smallpox, reported that certain Turkish women would open a wound in healthy individuals and introduce the contents of a smallpox vesicle with a large needle, thereby providing a level of protection against smallpox. About 2% to 3% died after variolation, whereas 20% ...