Transcutaneous immunization and immunostimulant strategies

The use of skin as a noninvasive route for vaccine delivery has great potential for safe use of potent immune system-stimulating compounds that can target the dense population of immune cells found in the skin. The use of such compounds to stimulate the skin immune system leads to highly potent immune responses, and this immune responsiveness, combined with an apparent high safety margin, has fostered a great deal of interest in targeting the skin with vaccines. The experience with the smallpox vaccine, the most successful vaccine in history and one that is delivered to the skin, suggests that the advances in delivery of vaccines to the skin will have an important impact on human health.