571 Dendritic cell programming in vaccinia skin scarification

Abstract

Smallpox is one of the deadliest viral diseases in human history, killing an estimated 300 million since 1900 alone. Edward Jenner’s 1796 discovery that skin inoculation with cowpox in a scarification method of delivery[i][ii] induced immunity against smallpox led to the global eradication of the disease by 1980[iii]. In recent years, the vaccinia virus model derived from cowpox was used to demonstrate that vaccinia virus skin scarification (VACVss) is a superior immunization strategy to other methods of vaccine delivery[iv].