Infectious Diseases

Morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases have been dramatically reduced by improved vaccination, which is the most cost-effective public health measure to prevent spread of disease (Lambert et al., 2005). Most vaccines are given by intramuscular injection, even though the muscle is not a highly immunogenic organ (Hutin et al., 2003, Hohlfeld and Engel, 1994). The skin, in contrast, is a much more attractive site for vaccination from an immunologic perspective, because of its many resident dendritic cells and efficient drainage to lymph nodes (Debenedictis et al., 2001, Kupper and Fuhlbrigge, 2004).