Diversification of the antigen-specific T cell receptor repertoire after varicella zoster vaccination

Resolving spots isn’t the end of the story for people infected with varicella zoster virus (VZV). VZV hides in the host, causing a latent chronic infection that can reactivate as an individual ages. Now, Qi et al. look at the effect of booster vaccination in adults on the diversity and size of the T cell repertoire specific to VZV. They found that vaccination increases the diversity of the T cell response to VZV but that a single booster may not be enough to establish clonal dominance. These data support the use of repertoire analysis as a tool to analyze the success of vaccination.