Breadth of Antibody Responses during Influenza Virus Infection and Vaccination

Influenza viruses are a major public health problem, causing severe respiratory diseases. Vaccines offer the effective protective strategy against influenza virus infection. However, the systemic and adaptive immune responses to infection and vaccination are quite different. Inactivated vaccines are the best available countermeasure to induce effective antibodies against the emerged virus, but the response is narrow compared with potential breadth of virus infection. There is solid evidence to indicate that antibody responses to natural infection are relatively broad and exhibit quite different immunodominance patterns. Furthermore, T follicular helper cells (T-FH) and germinal center (GC) responses play a central role in generating broad protective antibodies. In this review, we discuss recent advances on the contribution of T-FH and GC responses to the breadth of antibody responses.