Vaccine immunity against fungal infections

Only a handful of the many fungal species on our planet cause infections in humans. Despite many medical advances, invasive fungal infections have skyrocketed in recent years and pose a growing health problem in both immune-competent and immune-deficient hosts. Recent strides in our understanding of fungal immunity have raised the prospect that vaccines against fungi can be developed that are effective, safe and able to elicit lasting immunity even in immune deficient individuals. We discuss progress in vaccine development and understanding mechanisms of protection against fungi including in patients with impaired CD4⁺ T-cell immunity.