Earlier this month, the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia sponsored “The Future of Vaccines,” a symposium attended by experts in academia, government, and industry. During the meeting, these experts agreed that although vaccines hold a vital role in the future of public healthcare, there continue to be several major obstacles that must be overcome if the field is to progress. In their opinion, these challeges include access, inconsistent funding, public misperceptions, and scientific roadblocks.

This is not surprising; vaccine makers like every other R&D group have had successes, failures, and emerging hopes. Mixed results of clinical trials for HIV/AIDS vaccine candidates, for example, have complicated matters for the industry. Merck & Co. ditched their drug last fall after a poor performance at Phase 2 trials. This month, however, fledgling drug company GeoVax reported “promising” results for their vaccine at Phase 1 and that the HIV Vaccine Trials Network was about to move their candidate to Phase 2 trials this summer.

 Public perception is a relatively new challenge. Just last week the US Court of Federal Claims started “Thimerosal/Autism trial” (until May 30), which included testimony from parents claiming thimerosal, the mercury-containing preservative in many vaccines, led their children to develop autism-like symptoms after vaccination.

Not surprisingly, the combination of scientific failures and unsure safety have led to what symposium attendees labeled as the “new threat” to infectious diseases re-entering the public health system: the growing number of parents who are choosing not to vaccinate their children with “routine” vaccinations. Selective vaccination of children, they said, may be one ofthe reasons behind the “outbreak” of diseases such as measles and pertussis that had been virtually eliminated when their vaccinations were introduced.

Paul Offit, chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia and co-inventor of the vaccine against rotavirus said, “Philosophical exemptions for vaccines are necessary but they should be harder to get.”

 Do you agree? What are your thoughts about the steps necessary to advance vaccine research and education?