Distinguishing Causation From Correlation in the Use of Correlates of Protection to Evaluate and Develop Influenza Vaccines.

ABSTRACT: There is increasing attention to the need to identify new immune markers for the evaluation of existing and new influenza vaccines. Immune markers that could predict individual protection against infection and disease, commonly called correlates of protection (CoPs), play an important role in vaccine development and licensing. Here, we discuss the epidemiologic considerations when evaluating immune markers as potential CoPs for influenza vaccines and emphasize the distinction between correlation and causation. While an immune marker that correlates well with protection from infection can be used as a predictor of vaccine efficacy, it should be distinguished from an immune marker that plays a mechanistic role in conferring protection against a clinical endpoint-the latter might be a more re

SUBMITTER: Lim WW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7217279 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature