Join Professor Chris Chiu, Professor of Infectious Diseases, online or in-person for his Imperial Inaugural.

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Abstract

Respiratory viruses, the most important of which are influenza virus, RSV and SARS-CoV-2, are among the commonest causes of disease and death worldwide. While vaccines against all three illnesses are now available, it is also increasingly clear that their effectiveness is mainly against severe disease and they are much less good at preventing mild or asymptomatic infection

Respiratory viruses are most commonly transmitted by breathing in droplets or particles in the air, so the nose and lung are critical sites for virus entry and exit. However, apart from the nasal influenza vaccine for children, all current respiratory virus vaccines are given as injections that mainly stimulate protective immune responses in the circulation and have limited capacity to promote long-lasting immunity in the nose or lung.

Chris Chiu is Professor of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Infectious Disease at Imperial College London focusing on human immunity against respiratory. In his inaugural lecture, he will discuss how susceptibility to flu, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 infection and disease severity are critically influenced by immunity in the nose and lung, and how next-generation vaccines are being developed to not only reduce severe disease but also block infection itself.