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Nature Medicine 10, 1045 - 1047 (2004)
doi:10.1038/nm1004-1045

Memory may not need reminding

Robert A Seder1 & David L Sacks2

  1. Robert A. Seder is in the Cellular Immunology Section, Vaccine Research Center, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. e-mail: rseder@mail.nih.gov
  2. David L. Sacks is at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, NIAID, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA.


After primary Leishmania major infection, two populations of CD4+ T cells, termed 'effector' and 'central memory' T cells, are generated. Work in mice shows that both populations can mediate protection against subsequent infection, and that persistent infection keeps the effector response robust (pages 1104–1110).


The fundamental basis of vaccination is the generation and maintenance of antigen-specific immune responses sufficient to mediate protection upon infectious challenge. The most effective vaccines provide protection years after their administration.