Tackling vaccine hyporesponsiveness through global collaboration, diverse population studies, and data integration.

Overview

Vaccines have improved global health substantially, preventing millions of deaths worldwide. However, striking variations in the immunogenicity and efficacy of some vaccines persist across populations. Notably, suboptimal responses to some vaccines, also known as vaccine hyporesponsiveness, have been observed in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) compared with high-income countries or in rural areas within LMICs compared with urban areas within LMICs. Environmental factors, host genetics, lifestyle, and nutrition contribute to immunological variations influencing vaccine responses, highlighting the need to identify key immune signatures that can be manipulated to overcome vaccine hyporesponsiveness. The integration of diverse datasets, accelerated by artificial intelligence, is essential to achieve this goal, which is currently hampered by the under-representation of data from LMICs. The HypoVax Global knowledge hub aims to address this gap by fostering international collaboration and compiling globally representative immunological data from population studies and vaccine trials. The hub offers a platform for high-dimensional data analyses, promotes equitable partnerships, and strives to ensure that all contributions lead to context-specific insights that can inform immunisation strategies to ultimately overcome vaccine hyporesponsiveness.