Latent CMV makes older adults less naïve.

Graham Pawelec

doi:10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.103887

Abstract

There is a widespread general consensus that protective immunity against infectious disease in older people is less effective than in younger adults, due to “immunosenescence”.1 There has been considerable controversy as to whether latent infection with human herpesviruses (HHV), particularly HHV5 (cytomegalovirus, CMV), seminally contributes to this state of immunosenescence. While it is clear that CMV-infected-vs-non-infected individuals display markedly different distributions of diverse immune cell phenotypes in the blood, the clinical implications of these findings remain unclear.

Highlights

As the authors recognize, a direct demonstration of the clinical relevance of the tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) antibody titers as correlates of protection in terms of actual disease resistance would require longer-term follow-up and subject monitoring
This has been proposed by many others in the past but with little actual supporting data in humans.[4]
The degree of general pessimism in the community regarding the negative effects of age on immunity may be misplaced, possibly due to decades of work assessing the responses of older adults to imperfect vaccines, especially those against seasonal influenza.[6]

Summary

Introduction

As the authors recognize, a direct demonstration of the clinical relevance of the TBE antibody titers as correlates of protection in terms of actual disease resistance would require longer-term follow-up and subject monitoring. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for assessing putative correlates of protection but clinical outcomes following vaccination with SARS-CoV-2 Spike neoantigens.

Results

Conclusion