Vaccines

The first section of this chapter is dedicated to the principles of vaccinology, a science which has given a relevant contribution to control several infectious threats such as smallpox, rabies, tetanus, diphtheria, poliomyelitis and more recently hepatitis B and papillomavirus infection. How biotechnology has contributed to improve vaccine strategies by the use of genetic vaccines (DNA-vaccines, recombinant vaccines, etc.) is discussed. Reverse vaccinology and subtractive reverse vaccinology are illustrated. Plant-based vaccines and nanovaccines are also described. Two more sections are dedicated to the routes of vaccine administration and to the most important adjuvants used, respectively