Inactivation methods for whole influenza vaccine production

Abstract

Despite tremendous efforts toward vaccination, influenza remains an ongoing global threat. The induction of strain‐specific neutralizing antibody responses is a common phenomenon during vaccination with the current inactivated influenza vaccines, so the protective effect of these vaccines is mostly strain‐specific. There is an essential need for the development of next‐generation vaccines, with a broad range of immunogenicity against antigenically drifted or shifted influenza viruses. Here, we evaluate the potential of whole inactivated vaccines, based on chemical and physical methods, as well as new approaches to generate cross‐protective immune responses. We also consider the mechanisms by which some of these vaccines may induce CD8+ T‐cells cross‐reactivity with different strains of influenza.