CHAPTER 2

• Jurisdiction: United States

CHAPTER 2 HOW ARE VACCINES TARGETED FOR VIRUSES?

Which viruses are a target for development of a vaccine? The most commonly researched viruses are infectious diseases, since they can spread to a large human population rather quickly. It is important to society that researchers create vaccines for viruses that may cause epidemics before the wide distribution of illness presents harm to the broader population. It is also important to examine the perceived risk-to-benefit ratio of the new vaccine. Risks must be low enough for a new vaccine to be acceptable to the public. The greater the health risk of infection, the more tolerable the risk of adverse effects. Numerous sources are available on the process of selecting the targets to be attacked by immunologists and other skilled...