Abstract

Pathogens have evolved intricate mechanisms to evade immune detection and clearance, presenting formidable challenges for vaccine development. This review explores the diverse strategies employed by pathogens, including antigenic variation, modulation of host immune responses, and intracellular survival. These evasion tactics undermine traditional vaccine approaches, emphasizing the need for innovative strategies that induce robust and broad immune responses. Advances in vaccine technologies, such as mRNA vaccines and viral vectors, offer promising avenues to overcome these challenges by targeting conserved pathogen epitopes and enhancing immunogenicity. Integrating insights into immune evasion mechanisms with vaccine design holds potential to develop vaccines capable of conferring durable protection against a wide range of infectious diseases. This review discusses current understanding, challenges, and future directions in leveraging immune evasion knowledge to advance vaccine development and global health outcomes.