Alternative Methods of Vaccine Delivery: An Overview of Edible and Intradermal Vaccines

Criscuolo, E.; Caputo, V.; Diotti, R. A.; Sautto, G. A.; Kirchenbaum, G. A.; Clementi, N.

One of the ten greatest public health achievements of the last century was preventative vaccination [1] . Vaccines have successfully reduced the spread of diseases and mitigated mortality associated with infectious agents such as diphtheria, tetanus, polio, measles, mumps, rubella, and hepatitis B [2] . In spite of the many successes achieved by vaccines, novel technologies and administration routes remain one of the main focuses in the vaccinology field. Although many licensed vaccines are administered by injection, in certain cases, this administration route suffers from limitations. In particular, injectable vaccines require trained personnel for the administration of the vaccine and may require multiple doses or inclusion of an adjuvant. Moreover, injectable vaccines may require specialized storage and transport conditions. From an immunological point of view, injectable vaccines are capable of eliciting robust systemic humoral responses while conferring weaker T cell-mediated immunity and mucosal protection [3, 4] . Importantly, T cell effector activity and mucosal immunity both contribute to prevention and control of infection from pathogens targeting the mucosa [5] .