witnessing a revolution in the vaccinology field: a thought on its probable impact on future vaccines

Vaccines have been one of the most remarkable achievements through medical history and have had a very high positive impact on human health (1). the number of prevented deaths through vaccination is estimated to be about 2-3 million per year (2). reduction of the risk of many infectious diseases and eradication of smallpox have been the result of intensive immunization programs (3). given that such health benefits are also translated to economic advantages, the indirect positive outcomes of immunization could be very broad. for instance, lost working days due to different diseases could partly be prevented through vaccination. thus, despite the huge investments needed for immunization programs, they are usually assumed as cost-effective projects (4).