The first steps towards the era of personalised vaccinology: predicting adverse reactions

Until now, the occurrence of adverse reactions among individuals inoculated with identical vaccines has been ascribed to unpredictable stochastic processes. Recent advances in pharmacogenomics indicate that some features of host response to immunisation are influenced by genetic traits, henceforth predictable. The ability to predict the adverse reaction to vaccination would represent an important step towards the development of personalised vaccinology and could enhance public confidence in the safety of vaccines. Herein, we have reviewed all the available information on the association between genetic variants and the risk for healthy subjects to develop adverse reactions.