Glycoconjugate vaccines: classic and novel approaches

Glycoconjugate vaccines, obtained by carbohydrates covalently bound to protein carriers, have contributed to fight diseases such as meningitidis, pneumonia and typhoid fever. Despite new technologies such as RNA and adenovirus based vaccine have now reached the market, these approaches are unable to target carbohydrates which are key virulence factors. This issue intends to provide an overview on relevant directions where the field is evolving and serve as starting point to increase interest in this exciting and fundamental part of vaccinology.