Vaccine protection against COVID-19 wanes over time and has been impacted by the emergence of new variants with increasing escape of neutralization. The COVID-19 Variant Immunologic Landscape (COVAIL) randomized clinical trial (clinicaltrials.gov NCT05289037) compares the breadth, magnitude and durability of antibody responses induced by a second COVID-19 vaccine boost with mRNA (Moderna mRNA-1273 and Pfizer-BioNTech BNT162b2), or adjuvanted recombinant protein (Sanofi CoV2 preS DTM-AS03) monovalent or bivalent vaccine candidates targeting ancestral and variant SARS-CoV-2 spike antigens (Beta, Delta and Omicron BA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStudies of successive vaccination suggest that immunological memory against past influenza viruses may limit responses to vaccines containing current strains. The impact of memory induced by prior infection is rarely considered and is difficult to ascertain, because infections are often subclinical. This study investigated influenza vaccination among adults from the Ha Nam cohort (Vietnam), who were purposefully selected to include 72 with and 28 without documented influenza A(H3N2) infection during the preceding 9 years (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry 12621000110886).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHaemagglutinin is a determinant of many viral properties, and successful adaptation to a human-like form is thought to be an important step toward pandemic influenza emergence. The availability of structurally distinct sialic acid linked receptors in the sites of human and avian influenza infection are generally held to account for the differences observed, but the relevance of other selection pressures has not been elucidated. There is evidence for genetic and structural constraints of haemagglutinin playing a role in restricting haemagglutinin adaptation, and also for differences in the selection pressure to alter binding, specifically when considering virus replication within host compared to transmission between hosts.
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