vaccines: a contemporary overview.

infection is an important public health issue, with an annual global incidence of 87 million. infection causes significant morbidity and can have serious long-term impacts on reproductive and neonatal health and may rarely cause life-threatening disease. Global rates of infection have increased over the past 20 years. Importantly, rates of antimicrobial resistance to key antimicrobials also continue to increase, with the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identifying drug-resistant as an urgent threat to public health. This review summarizes the current evidence for vaccines, including historical clinical trials, key vaccine preclinical studies, and studies of the impact of vaccines on infection. A comprehensive survey of potential vaccine antigens, including those identified through traditional vaccine immunogenicity approaches, as well as those identified using more contemporary reverse vaccinology approaches, are also described. Finally, the potential epidemiological impacts of a vaccine and research priorities for further vaccine development are described.