1. Epitope analysis for influenza vaccine design
- Author
-
Munoz, Enrique T. and Deem, Michael W.
- Subjects
Quantitative Biology - Biomolecules ,Quantitative Biology - Quantitative Methods - Abstract
Until now, design of the annual influenza vaccine has relied on phylogenetic or whole-sequence comparisons of the viral coat proteins hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, with vaccine effectiveness assumed to correlate monotonically to the vaccine-influenza sequence difference. We use a theory from statistical mechanics to quantify the non-monotonic immune response that results from antigenic drift in the epitopes of the hemagglutinin and neuraminidase proteins. The results explain the ineffectiveness of the 2003--2004 influenza vaccine in the United States and provide an accurate measure by which to optimize the effectiveness of future annual influenza vaccines., Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Vaccine
- Published
- 2004