The progressive increase of the aged population worldwide mandates new strategies to ensure sustained health and well-being with age. The development of better and/or new vaccines against pathogens that affect older adults is one pivotal intervention in approaching this goal. However, the functional decline of various physiological systems, including the immune system, requires novel approaches to counteract immunosenescence. Although important progress has been made in understanding the mechanisms underlying the age-related decline of the immune response to infections and vaccinations, knowledge gaps remain, both in the areas of basic and translational research. In particular, it will be important to better understand how environmental factors, such as diet, physical activity, co-morbidities, and pharmacological treatments, delay or contribute to the decline of the capability of the aging immune system to appropriately respond to infectious diseases and vaccination. Recent findings suggest that successful approaches specifically targeted to the older population can be developed, such as the high-dose and adjuvanted vaccines against seasonal influenza, the adjuvanted subunit vaccine against herpes zoster, as well as experimental interventions with immune-potentiators or immunostimulants. Learning from these first successes may pave the way to developing novel and improved vaccines for the older adults and immunocompromised. With an integrated, holistic vaccination strategy, society will offer the opportunity for an improved quality of life to the segment of the population that is going to increase most significantly in numbers and proportion over future decades.

世界范围内老龄人口的逐渐增加需要新的战略来确保随着年龄的增长而保持健康和福祉。针对影响老年人的病原体开发更好的和/或新的疫苗是实现这一目标的关键干预措施。然而，包括免疫系统在内的各种生理系统的功能衰退需要新的方法来对抗免疫衰老。尽管在理解与年龄相关的感染和疫苗接种免疫反应下降的机制方面取得了重要进展，但在基础研究和转化研究领域仍然存在知识差距。尤其重要的是，更好地了解环境因素，例如饮食、身体活动、合并症和药物治疗，延迟或导致老化免疫系统对传染病和疫苗接种做出适当反应的能力下降。最近的研究结果表明，可以开发专门针对老年人群的成功方法，例如针对季节性流感的高剂量和佐剂疫苗、针对带状疱疹的佐剂亚单位疫苗，以及使用免疫增强剂或免疫刺激剂的实验性干预措施。从这些最初的成功中吸取教训，可能会为为老年人和免疫功能低下的成年人开发新型和改进的疫苗铺平道路。通过综合的、整体的疫苗接种战略，社会将为未来几十年数量和比例增长最为显着的部分人口提供改善生活质量的机会。