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. 2012 Jun;54(11):1615-7.
doi: 10.1093/cid/cis238. Epub 2012 Mar 20.

Nomenclature for immune correlates of protection after vaccination

Stanley A Plotkin  1 , Peter B Gilbert
Affiliations

Nomenclature for immune correlates of protection after vaccination

Stanley A Plotkin et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2012 Jun.

Abstract

Identification of immune correlates of protection after vaccination is an important part of vaccinology for both theoretical and practical reasons. The terminology and definition of correlates have been confusing, because different authors have used variable terms and concepts. Here, we attempt to give precision to the field by defining 3 terms: correlate of protection (CoP), mechanistic correlate of protection (mCoP), and nonmechanistic correlate of protection (nCoP). A CoP is a marker of immune function that statistically correlates with protection after vaccination that may be either an mCoP, which is a mechanistic cause of protection, or an nCoP, which does not cause protection but nevertheless predicts protection through its (partial) correlation with another immune response(s) that mechanistically protects.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A correlate of protection (CoP) may be either a mechanism of protection, mCoP, or a nonmechanism of protection, termed nCoP, which predicts vaccine efficacy through its (partial) correlation with another immune response(s) that mechanistically protects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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