"Immunology is at a pivotal moment. The huge successes in public health brought about by vaccines are now facing erosion, as anti-vaccination sentiments spread around the world and the United States cuts funding to domestic and overseas infectious-disease research. Measles, for example, was declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 by the World Health Organization, but in July this year, there were more reported cases than in any year since 1992."
"Researchers are working hard to improve measles prevention and treatment. Erica Ollmann Saphire, president and chief executive of the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in San Diego, California, and her team are developing a vaccine that does not use live virus - a safer option for immunocompromised people. And having published a detailed view of a mouse antibody bound to the surface protein of a measles virus ( D. S. Zyla et al. Science 384, eadm8693; 2024), Saphire says they have done similar work with a group of human antibodies that they hope will inform new treatments."
Immunology faces renewed challenges as anti-vaccination sentiments expand globally and the United States reduces funding for domestic and international infectious-disease research. Measles, declared eliminated in the United States in 2000, experienced a troubling resurgence with July reporting the highest case numbers since 1992. Researchers are developing safer measles vaccines that avoid live virus to protect immunocompromised people and are mapping antibody–virus interactions to guide new therapies. Specific efforts include detailed structural studies of mouse antibodies bound to measles surface proteins and parallel work on human antibodies. Despite promising science for measles, tuberculosis and polio, researchers report that financial support is waning.
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