Several vaccines against extracellular bacteria have been developed in the past and are still used successfully today, e.g., vaccines against tetanus, pertussis, and diphtheria. Unlike comparatively simple viruses, bacteria possess a variety of antigens whose immunogenic potential is often unknown, and it is unclear which antigen can elicit a protective and long-lasting immune response. In general, bacteria are much more complex organisms than viruses and as such are more difficult targets. However, vaccination against bacterial infections is a challenge. One example is typhus, a life-threatening disease also known as “war plague” caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, which could potentially come back in a war situation such as the one in Ukraine. This is also true for bacterial infections that are still neglected, even though they affect a large part of the world’s population, especially under poor hygienic conditions. Prophylactic vaccines against these bacterial pathogens are urgently needed. Many bacterial infections are major health problems worldwide, and treatment of many of these infectious diseases is becoming increasingly difficult due to the development of antibiotic resistance, which is a major threat.
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