Vaccination Against Respiratory Infections in the Immunosenescent Elderly: challenges and opportunities

Respiratory infections are associated with a huge burden of disease every year, and disproportionately affect older adults, namely those aged 65 years and older. Older adults are at increased risk of infections compared to their younger counterparts, and once infected, have a higher risk of experiencing severe disease course, complications and long-term sequelae. Therefore, vaccination is clearly a key strategy to prevent infection and its attendant negative consequences. We review here the burden of common respiratory diseases in older adults, namely influenza, pneumococcal disease and respiratory syncytial virus. We then review some of the challenges facing immunization of older adults, namely immunosenescence, inflammaging and low vaccine uptake. Next, potential opportunities for overcoming these challenges are reviewed, including the use of higher antigen doses and/or adjuvants in vaccine formulations for older adults, and the potential of multi-omics analyses to improve development, performance and implementation of vaccines.

Publication History

Received: 13 August 2024

Accepted after revision: 10 December 2024

Accepted Manuscript online:
11 December 2024