Immune response to vaccination in the elderly

The immune system develops from childhood until the late age. Each of these periods has its own specialities. Aging is typical for immunity, depending on the conversion of hematogenous bone marrow to adipose, involution of the thymus and persistent viral infections (e.g. CMV). In the elderly, whose numbers have been increasing in recent decades, there is a need to understand the changes in the immune system also called as immunosenescence. The substantial remodeling of the immune system during aging leads to a decline in its functional activity in both innate (complement, cytokines, granulocytes, NK cells, macrophages) and adaptive immunity (B lymphocytes and antibody production, T lymphocytes, cytokine production and cytotoxic response, NKT cells, regulatory T lymphocytes with suppressor activity) with advancing age, resulting in increased risk of chronic diseases, infections, autoimmunity and vaccination failure.