The DOI matches its Crossref record; 34 of the 34 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Non-specific effects of vaccines: plausible and potentially important, but implications uncertain
Open accessAbstract
Non-specific effects (NSE) or heterologous effects of vaccines are proposed to explain observations in some studies that certain vaccines have an impact beyond the direct protection against infection with the specific pathogen for which the vaccines were designed. The importance and implications of such effects remain controversial. There are several known immunological mechanisms which could lead to NSE, since it is widely recognised that the generation of specific immunity is initiated by non-specific innate immune mechanisms that may also have wider effects on adaptive immune function. However, there are no published studies that demonstrate a mechanistic link between such immunological phenomena and clinically relevant NSE in humans. While it is highly plausible that some vaccines do have NSE, their magnitude and duration, and thus importance, remain uncertain. Although the WHO recently concluded that current evidence does not justify changes to immunisation policy, further studies of sufficient size and quality are needed to assess the importance of NSE for all-cause mortality. This could provide insights into vaccine immunobiology with important implications for infant health and survival.
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“Several lines of evidence indicate that immunization with some vaccines perturbs the immune system in such a way that there are general changes in immune responsiveness that can increase protection against unrelated pathogens65.”
From A guide to vaccinology: from basic principles to new developments (2021) · cites this paper as [65]
Citations
Cites
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Non-specific Effects of Vaccines
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Self-citationWang, Y., Giles, M., & Carvalho, N. (2024) · Vaccines · doi:10.3390/vaccines12030232
Lack of a non-specific protective effect of prior yellow fever vaccination against COVID-19
Martínez-Lacalzada, M., Cruz, A., Subirà, C., Vera, I., Roldán, M., de Alba, T., Saloni, M., Muñóz, J., & Rodríguez-Valero, N. (2024) · Journal of Travel Medicine · doi:10.1093/jtm/taae027
Kain, D. C., Lewinsohn, D. M., & Lewinsohn, D. A. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-94540-3_8
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Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Pollard, A. J., Finn, A., & Curtis, N.
- Affiliations
- University of Oxford (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Royal Children's Hospital (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Pollard, Andrew J
- Venue
- Archives of Disease in Childhood
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2017-05-13
- Volume
- 102
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1077-1081
- ISSN
- 0003-9888 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-2044
- OpenAlex
- W2612737843
- Cited by
- 118
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 4
- FWCI
- 6.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-nd
- Locations
- Archives of Disease in Childhood (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Explore Bristol Research (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Pfizer
- World Health Organization
- University of Oxford
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune responses and vaccinations
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immunotherapy and Immune Responses
- Social Sciences › Health › Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
- Keywords
- non-specific vaccine effects, innate immunity, adaptive immunity, all-cause mortality, vaccination policy, infant health, vaccine safety
- MeSH terms
- Communicable Diseases, Humans, Infant, Vaccines, Immunity, Heterologous
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