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Abstract
Vaccines rank among the greatest advances in the history of public health. Yet, despite
the need, there are no licensed vaccines to protect humans against fungal diseases,
including aspergillosis. In this focused review, some of the major scientific and
logistical challenges to developing vaccines to protect at-risk individuals against
aspergillosis are discussed. Approaches that have shown promise in animal models include
vaccines that protect against multiple fungal genera and those that are specifically
directed to Aspergillus Advances in proteomics and glycomics have facilitated identification
of candidate antigens for use in subunit vaccines. Novel adjuvants and delivery systems
are becoming available that can skew vaccine responses toward those associated with
protection. Immunotherapy consisting of adoptive transfer of Aspergillus-specific
T cells to allogeneic hematopoietic transplant recipients has advanced to human testing
but is technically difficult and of unproven benefit. While progress has been impressive,
much work still needs to be done if vaccines against aspergillosis are to become a
reality.