Individual and population immunity to respiratory viruses

Immunity to respiratory viruses can be conferred by infections or by vaccinations, and immunity plays a key role in infection dynamics. At the individual level, immunity can prevent infections from occurring, reduce their severity if they do occur and may prevent transmission.

At the population level, immunity can mitigate the public health impact of epidemics, and increasing population immunity through vaccination is the primary approach used to reduce the annual disease burden of influenza and COVID-19 in many parts of the world. In the near future, RSV vaccines will also be introduced.

The objective of this meeting is to improve our understanding of individual and population immunity to respiratory viruses, and how these change over time, with direct implications for vaccination policies and other control measures.

Topics 

In this scientific meeting, we will discuss the following questions relating to influenza, COVID-19, RSV, and other respiratory viruses:

• What are the available approaches to the measurement of immunity against respiratory virus infections in individuals?

• What are the immune correlates of protection against infection or severe disease and which of these are induced temporarily or permanently by prior natural infection or different types of vaccination?

• What is the role of mucosal immunity and how well does it correlate with protection and transmission?

• At the population level, what are the factors which contribute to increased susceptibility of populations to respiratory virus epidemics? This will include immunity in individuals, and may also include other host, viral and environmental factors and their interactions.

• How should we best deploy new and existing vaccines to reduce the impact of respiratory virus epidemics and pandemics?

• What are other immunological mechanisms relevant to the development and evaluation of the next generation of vaccines, including broadly protective “universal” vaccines? This will include updates on T cell-based vaccines and new vaccine platforms, and the role of adjuvants.

• How does imprinting affect individual and population immunity?

• How does viral evolution impact on population immunity?