Perspectives of vaccination against dermatophytosis in dogs and cats

The development of vaccines against animal dermatophytosis has been proposed both for economical and epidemiological reasons, i.e. to reduce the reservoir of the zoonotic agents causing the disease. Immunoprophylaxis appears to be an adequate tool for the controle of dermatophytosis. Indeed an infection by a dermatophyte generally induces the development of a protective immunity against reinfection. Since the end of the sixties, trials of immunization against dermatophytosis were performed. To date only a single live vaccine against cattle ringworm has been used with success. The design of an effective vaccine against dermatophytosis appears to require the induction of cellular rather than humoral immunity. Recent progress in vaccinology, particularly in the field of subunit vaccines and adjuvants, as well as a better understanding of the pathogenesis of dermatophytosis could allow further development of effective vaccines against these diseases, notably in dogs and cats.