Follow-up of the Antibody Response to Measles Vaccine in a Rural Area of Guinea-Bissau

ABSTRACT. One hundred and fourty-four children who either were already immune or had been successfully immunized against measles were reexamined after 16 months. All still had circulating Elisa antibodies at a clearly detectable level. Titres were higher in the group of children stated to have had measles prior to the immunization. None of the children had measles after immunization. Boostering by the wild virus may have occurred, whereas no evidence of a booster effect from the vaccine was found. About one third of the children were underweight. Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia rate, and also its seasonality, varied with the location of the child's homestead. Even children exposed to mesoendemic P. falciparum malaria and moderate malnutrition can be successfully immunized with a conventional live attenuated measles vaccine from 8 months of age, which probably results in a lasting protection.     

Using Monte Carlo Simulation to Determine Combination Vaccine Price Distributions for Childhood Diseases

The Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule provides guidelines that allow pediatricians to administer childhood vaccines in an efficient and effective manner. Research by vaccine manufacturers has resulted in the development of new vaccines that protect against a growing number of diseases. This has created a dilemma for how to insert such new vaccines into an already crowded immunization schedule, and prompted vaccine manufacturers to develop vaccine products that combine several individual vaccines into a single injection. Such combination vaccines permit new vaccines to be inserted into the immunization schedule without requiring children to be exposed to an unacceptable number of injections during a single clinic visit. Given this advantage, combination vaccines merit an economic premium. The purpose of this paper is to describe how Monte Carlo simulation can be used to assess and quantify this premium by studying four combination vaccines that may become available for distribution within the United States. Each combination vaccine is added to twelve licensed vaccine products for six childhood diseases (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, haemophilus influenzae type B, hepatitis B, and polio). Monte Carlo simulation with an integer programming model is used to determine the (maximal) inclusion price distribution of four combination vaccines, by randomizing the cost of an injection. The results of this study suggest that combination vaccines warrant price premiums based on the cost assigned to administering an injection, and that further developments and innovations in this area by vaccine manufacturers may provide significant economic and societal benefits.     

Sero-epidemiology of tetanus antibody among the children in eastern Turkey

The aim of the study was to determine immunity status of children to tetanus, and to assess the Expanded Programme on Immunization. A total of 840 children aged 0-71 months were randomly selected from three provinces in eastern Turkey by using cluster-sampling method. Blood samples were collected and enzyme linked immunoassay test was used to measure antibody levels. The percentage of the children who had antibody titres above the minimum protective level (0.01 IU/ml) was 80.0%. Only 10.6% of the children had antibody titres above the fully protective level (0.1 IU/ml). Antibody levels of children in rural areas were higher than those of children in urban areas. In children whose fathers were literate the levels were also higher than the others. Antibody level increased with the number of vaccine applications. Antibody levels were not consistent with immunization history obtained from parents. In this regard, our suggestion is that wound care management should not depend on immunization history obtained from parents if the vaccination programs are not effectively implemented. Most of the children in this study had antibody titres below the fully protective level.     

Advances in the study of Alzheimer＇s disease

Alzheimer＇ s disease （AD） is the most common cause of dementia, and the only treatment currently available for the disease is acetylcholinesterase inhibitors. Recent progress in understanding the molecular and cellular pathophysiology of Alzheimer＇s disease has suggested possible pharmacological interventions, including acetylcholineseterase inhibitors; secretase inhibitors; cholesterol lowering drugs; metal chelators and amyloid immunization. The objective of this paper is to review the main drugs possibly used for AD and their future therapeutic effects.     

肌幼虫可溶性抗原免疫小鼠抗旋毛虫感染作用

目的观察不同剂量旋毛虫肌幼虫可溶性抗原（muscle larvae soluble antigen，MLSAg）滴鼻免疫小鼠诱导的抗旋毛虫感染作用，确定MLSAg滴鼻免疫适宜剂量。方法C57BL／6J小鼠50只，随机分为5组，分别用5，10，20，30ugMLSAg溶于20ul生理盐水滴鼻免疫小鼠2次，间隔2周；对照组用0．9％NaCl20ul滴鼻。末次免疫后7d，用旋毛虫肌幼虫150条／只灌胃攻击全部小鼠，观察健康状况，记录体重。攻击后28d，检测血清和肠液IgG、IgA。计数舌肌、咬肌、膈肌及后肢肌肉的虫荷。结果攻击后对照组小鼠体重逐渐减轻，而4个免疫组小鼠体重仍呈增高趋势。5，10，20和30ug组小鼠血清IgG水平分别为1．255，1．281，1．394和1．441；血清IgA水平分别为1．108，1．282，1．262和1．326，均高于对照组（1．158，1．035）。肠液IgA水平分别为1．974，2．026，2．057和2．015明显高于对照组（1．785）；10，20和30ug组小鼠肌肉虫荷均明显低于对照组及5ug组（P〈0．05）。结论不同剂量MLSAg滴鼻免疫小鼠均可诱导抗旋毛虫感染，滴鼻免疫剂量以20ug为佳。     

Lack of immunization after intraperitoneal insemination of spermatozoa

Summary. Twenty infertile patients with normal tubal patency were inseminated intraperitoneally (11 once, seven twice, and two three times) with spermatozoa (mean 14 times 10⁶, range 0.6–48 times 10⁶) prepared by the standard swim-up technique. The occurrence of immunization to spermatozoa was looked for by the Gelatin Agglutination Test (GAT) and Tray Agglutination Test (TAT). Both tests gave negative results for all the controls (10 pregnant and 10 puerperal women).
Antisperm antibodies were measured in the serum before, 30 d and 4–7 months after Intraperitoneal Insemination (IPI).
The last check was done for only 14 patients, since six became pregnant as a consequence of the first treatment. Of the 14 patients studied after 4–7 months, seven had two, and two had three IPI.
In the group of inseminated patients, 18 women with no basal sperm antibody did not show evidence of antibody formation after the treatment and it was not increased after insemination in the two patients who already had low antibody titre (1/32).
In conclusion, despite the large number of spermatozoa inseminated and even after several IPI attempts, there was no evidence of de novo production of or increase in already present anti-sperm antibodies according to the methods used for the detection of ASA in this study.     

Probiotics: Nonantigenic tissue fractions in cancer control

The effects of probiotics, nonantigenic fractions of normal and malignant cells on tumors, and of similar fractions of normal cells on bacteria and viruses are discussed. The effects are considered in relation to tumor growth and development. In a control group of mice given subcutaneous inoculations only of viable dbrB tumor cells in DBA/1 mice, 100% developed tumors. In a group receiving subcutaneous and intravenous injections of tumor cells and given the tumor fractions, 20% developed lung tumors and 53% developed subcutaneous tumors. In an experiment in which mice received only intravenous injections of viable tumor cells and the tumor fractions, 100% of the controls died with no deaths occurring in the treated group. It is concluded that nonantigenic cellular fractions (probiotics) effective in inducing resistance to some bacterial and viral diseases are effective in inducing resistance to tumors in an inbred strain of mice.     

Active and passive immunization against oral Candida albicans infection in a murine model

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Clinical and laboratory studies are consistent with a major role for cell-mediated immunity in recovery from oral infection with Candida albicans, but the role of humoral immunity remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to establish the relative contributions of cellular and humoral immunity to protection against oral candidiasis in a murine model, and to determine whether host responses could be enhanced by different immunization strategies. RESULTS: Active oral immunization was protective in BALB/c and CBA/CaH mice, reducing both fungal burden and duration of infection after secondary challenge, whereas systemic immunization failed to protect against subsequent oral challenge. Candida-specific IgM was the predominant antibody detected in serum following both primary and secondary oral challenge; however, Candida-specific salivary IgA was not detectable. Immunization by passive transfer of either lymphocytes or immune serum did not confer any significant protection against oral infection in either susceptible or resistant mouse strain. CONCLUSION: The data demonstrate a possible role for mucosa-associated immunity following active immunization by the oral route, most likely exerted by local T lymphocytes resident in the oral mucosa, but there was no evidence to support a role for humoral immunity in protection against oral candidiasis.     

Knowledge of general public and health professionals about tetanus immunization

Objective : To study the awareness among general public and health care providers about tetanus immunization in relation to injuries, and their knowledge about tetanus immunization schedules in children, pregnant females and adults.Methods : It was a cross-sectional study done at a perfect health mela and all the government allopathic health agencies in Delhi.Results : The knowledge of tetanus immunization was poor among general public as well as health care providers. A substantial proportion of them indicated tetanus injection after every injury, which was unwarranted. The knowledge of tetanus immunization schedule for adults was poor among all categories of respondents, though it was comparatively better for pregnant females, but only 75% of doctors and 51.1 % of nursing personnel correctly knew the immunization schedule against tetanus in children.Conclusion : There is a need to upgrade the level of knowledge among health care providers so as to ensure that schedules of tetanus are followed properly and unnecessary repeated immunizations are avoided and the same knowledge is passed on to the general public also.     

Infant immunization and family size

BACKGROUND: To investigate whether a delay in infant immunization is associated with the number of older siblings. METHODS: A cohort analysis of cumulative immunization uptake in 616 children aged 1-4 years recruited for a case-control study of atopic dermatitis in Norwich, UK was performed. The main outcome measures were the age of third pertussis and MMR immunizations. Delayed immunization was defined as a pertussis immunization age 6 months or greater, and MMR immunization aged 16 months or greater. RESULTS: Having a larger number of older siblings was associated with a delay in pertussis immunization (6.2 per cent for children with no older siblings versus 23.3 per cent for children with two or more older siblings), but not in MMR immunization. CONCLUSION: Infants with older siblings are at greater risk of pertussis infection from intrafamilial contagion yet are less likely to be immunized on time.