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Indian Pediatr 2002 Nov;39(11):1068-71
 

Is Hib Vaccination Required at all in India?-Reply.

Cherian T, Thomas N, Raghupathy P, Durot I, Dutta A

Department of Child Health, Christian Medical College Hospital, PB no. 3, Vellore 632 004, India and Aventis Pnternational, Lyon, France. cherian@cmcvellore.ac.in

[Medline record in process]
 

PMID: 12466588, UI: 22354218

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Indian Pediatr 2002 Nov;39(11):1067-8
 

Is Hib Vaccination Required at all in India?

Beri RS, Ojha RK

236, Surya Niketan, Delhi - 110 092, India. ojharishi@msn.com

[Medline record in process]
 

PMID: 12466587, UI: 22354217

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J Infect Dis 2002 Nov 15;186(10):1483-6
 

Measles epidemic in the Netherlands, 1999-2000.

van den Hof S, Conyn-van Spaendonck MA, van Steenbergen JE

National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. Susan.van.den.Hof@rivm.nl

In 1999-2000, a measles epidemic occurred in The Netherlands, with 3292 reported cases; 94% of the affected patients had not been vaccinated. Only 1 patient had received 2 doses of vaccine. Three patients died, and 16% had complications. For the unvaccinated population, the incidence per 1000 inhabitants 15 months to 14 years old increased from 83 (95% confidence interval [CI], 53-113), in municipalities with vaccine coverage rates < or =90%, to 200 (95% CI, 153-247), in municipalities with coverage rates >95%; for the vaccinated population, the incidence increased from 0.2 (95% CI, 0.1-0.4) to 1.4 (95% CI, 0.9-1.9). Unvaccinated individuals were 224 times (95% CI, 148-460 times) more likely to acquire measles than were vaccinated individuals; the relative risk increased with decreasing vaccine coverage. Herd immunity outside unvaccinated clusters was high enough to prevent further transmission. More case patients came from the vaccine-accepting population living among unvaccinated clusters than from individuals who declined vaccination and who lived among the vaccine-accepting population.

PMID: 12404165, UI: 22292003

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J Infect Dis 2002 Nov 15;186(10):1448-57
 

Investigation of the relationships between immune-mediated inhibition of mycobacterial growth and other potential surrogate markers of protective Mycobacterium tuberculosis immunity.

Hoft DF, Worku S, Kampmann B, Whalen CC, Ellner JJ, Hirsch CS, Brown RB, Larkin R, Li Q, Yun H, Silver RF

Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology and Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. hoftdf@slu.edu

Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine development is hindered by the lack of clear surrogate markers of protective human immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study evaluated the hypothesis that immune-mediated inhibition of mycobacterial growth would more directly correlate with protective TB immunity than other immunologic responses. Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination, known to induce partial protection against TB, was used as a model system to investigate mechanistic relationships among different parameters of antigen-specific immunity. Effects of primary and booster intradermal BCG vaccinations were assessed in 3 distinct assays of mycobacterial inhibition. Correlations between vaccine-induced growth inhibition and other immune responses were analyzed. BCG significantly enhanced all antigen-specific responses. Peak responses occurred at 2 months after boosting. Statistical analyses suggested that each assay measured unique aspects of mycobacterial immunity. Despite previous evidence that type 1 immune responses are essential for TB immunity, interferon-gamma production did not correlate with mycobacterial inhibition. These results have important implications for TB vaccine development.

PMID: 12404160, UI: 22291998

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J Infect Dis 2002 Nov 15;186(10):1422-9
 

Induction of functional secretory IgA responses in breast milk, by pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides.

Finn A, Zhang Q, Seymour L, Fasching C, Pettitt E, Janoff EN

Institute of Child Health, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom. Adam.Finn@bristol.ac.uk

Capsule-specific secretory IgA (s-IgA) in breast milk may enhance protection against pneumococcal disease in infants. After immunization of 3 lactating mothers with 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine, specific s-IgA, but not IgG, increased by >2-fold in milk of at least 1 subject for 6 of 7 serotypes. The s-IgA was predominantly IgA1, in secretory form, and highly specific with avidity distinct from serum IgA and IgG. Milk whey from 2 immunized women supported dose- and complement-dependent killing of Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 19F and 14 by human neutrophils, as did purified s-IgA to serotype 19F. These data reveal that capsule-specific human s-IgA in breast milk can initiate killing of S. pneumoniae, providing proof of concept that vaccine-induced human mucosal s-IgA can support functional bactericidal activity. Determining the biologic role for s-IgA in killing and inhibiting adherence of S. pneumoniae in vivo will contribute to the development of mucosal vaccines against S. pneumoniae.

PMID: 12404157, UI: 22291995

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J Virol 2002 Nov;76(22):11561-9
 

Immunization of macaques with formalin-inactivated respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) induces interleukin-13-associated hypersensitivity to subsequent RSV infection.

De Swart RL, Kuiken T, Timmerman HH, Amerongen Gv G, Van Den Hoogen BG, Vos HW, Neijens HJ, Andeweg AC, Osterhaus AD

Institute of Virology, Erasmus MC, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands. deswart@viro.fgg.eur.nl

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of severe respiratory disease in infants and the elderly. RSV vaccine development has been hampered by results of clinical trials in the 1960s, when formalin-inactivated whole-RSV preparations adjuvated with alum (FI-RSV) were found to predispose infants for enhanced disease following subsequent natural RSV infection. We have reproduced this apparently immunopathological phenomenon in infant cynomolgus macaques and identified immunological and pathological correlates. Vaccination with FI-RSV induced specific virus-neutralizing antibody responses accompanied by strong lymphoproliferative responses. The vaccine-induced RSV-specific T cells predominantly produced the Th2 cytokines interleukin-13 (IL-13) and IL-5. Intratracheal challenge with a macaque-adapted wild-type RSV 3 months after the third vaccination elicited a hypersensitivity response associated with lung eosinophilia. The challenge resulted in a rapid boosting of IL-13-producing T cells in the FI-RSV-vaccinated animals but not in the FI-measles virus-vaccinated control animals. Two out of seven FI-RSV-vaccinated animals died 12 days after RSV challenge with pulmonary hyperinflation. Surprisingly, the lungs of these two animals did not show overt inflammatory lesions. However, upon vaccination the animals had shown the strongest lymphoproliferative responses associated with the most pronounced Th2 phenotype within their group. We hypothesize that an IL-13-associated asthma-like mechanism resulted in airway hyperreactivity in these animals. This nonhuman primate model will be an important tool to assess the safety of nonreplicating candidate RSV vaccines.

PMID: 12388717, UI: 22276356

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J Virol 2002 Nov;76(22):11365-78
 

Live, attenuated simian immunodeficiency virus SIVmac-M4, with point mutations in the Env transmembrane protein intracytoplasmic domain, provides partial protection from mucosal challenge with pathogenic SIVmac251.

Shacklett BL, Shaw KE, Adamson LA, Wilkens DT, Cox CA, Montefiori DC, Gardner MB, Sonigo P, Luciw PA

Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco 94141-9100, USA. bshacklett@gladstone.ucsf.edu

Attenuated molecular clones of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVmac) are important tools for studying the correlates of protective immunity to lentivirus infection in nonhuman primates. The most highly attenuated SIVmac mutants fail to induce disease but also fail to induce immune responses capable of protecting macaques from challenge with pathogenic virus. We recently described a novel attenuated virus, SIVmac-M4, containing multiple mutations in the transmembrane protein (TM) intracytoplasmic domain. This domain has been implicated in viral assembly, infectivity, and cytopathogenicity. Whereas parental SIVmac239-Nef(+) induced persistent viremia and simian AIDS in rhesus macaques, SIVmac-M4 induced transient viremia in juvenile and neonatal macaques, with no disease for at least 1 year postinfection. In this vaccine study, 8 macaques that were infected as juveniles (n = 4) or neonates (n = 4) with SIVmac-M4 were challenged with pathogenic SIVmac251 administered through oral mucosa. At 1 year postchallenge, six of the eight macaques had low to undetectable plasma viremia levels. Assays of cell-mediated immune responses to SIVmac Gag, Pol, Env, and Nef revealed that all animals developed strong CD8(+) T-cell responses to Gag after challenge but not before. Unvaccinated control animals challenged with SIVmac251 developed persistent viremia, had significantly weaker SIV-specific T-cell responses, and developed AIDS-related symptoms. These findings demonstrate that SIVmac-M4, which contains a full-length Nef coding region and multiple point mutations in the TM, can provide substantial protection from mucosal challenge with pathogenic SIVmac251.

PMID: 12388697, UI: 22276336

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JAMA 2002 Nov 27;288(20):2533-5
 

From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adverse events associated with 17D-derived yellow fever vaccination--United States, 2001-2002.

PMID: 12465621, UI: 22351575

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JAMA 2002 Dec 4;288(21):2671-2
 

Medical News & Perspectives: In HIV Vaccine Efforts, New Strategies and Patience Are Needed in Equal Measure.

Stephenson J

[Medline record in process]
 

Publication Types:
 

• News

PMID: 12460070, UI: 22349994

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Lancet 2002 Oct 26;360(9342):1335
 

Interferon-gamma responses to mycobacterial antigens in Heaf-positive children.

Nakayama K, Shinkawa M, Ohrui T, Hirai H, Sasaki H

Publication Types:
 

• Letter

PMID: 12414240, UI: 22302451

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MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2002 Nov 15;51(45):1024-6
 

Use of anthrax vaccine in response to terrorism: supplemental recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

In December 2000, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) released its recommendations for using anthrax vaccine in the United States. Because of recent terrorist attacks involving the intentional exposure of U.S. civilians to Bacillus anthracis spores and concerns that the current anthrax vaccine supply is limited, ACIP developed supplemental recommendations on using anthrax vaccine in response to terrorism. These recommendations supplement the previous ACIP statement in three areas: use of anthrax vaccine for pre-exposure vaccination in the U.S. civilian population, the prevention of anthrax by postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), and recommendations for additional research related to using antimicrobial agents and anthrax vaccine for preventing anthrax

Publication Types:
 

• Guideline
• Practice guideline

PMID: 12458919, UI: 22346733

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MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2002 Nov 15;51(45):1019-24
 

Influenza and pneumococcal vaccination levels among persons aged > or = 65 years--United States, 2001.

Two vaccine-preventable diseases, influenza and pneumococcal disease, contribute to the mortality of older persons in the United States. Influenza caused an average of 20,000 deaths per year during influenza epidemics in the United States from 1969 to 1996; persons aged > or = 65 years accounted for approximately 90% of these deaths. Pneumococcal disease caused approximately 3,400 deaths among persons aged > or = 65 years in the United States in 1998. National health objectives for 2010 include increasing influenza and pneumococcal vaccination levels to > or = 90% among persons aged > or = 65 years (objective nos. 14.29a and 14.29b, respectively). To assess progress toward achieving these objectives, CDC analyzed data from the 2001 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). This report summarizes the results, which indicate that the estimated point prevalences of influenza and pneumococcal vaccination were <80% among persons aged > or = 65 years in all reporting areas. Influenza vaccination levels during 2000-2001 decreased from 1998-1999 levels in 27 of 52 reporting areas; pneumococcal vaccination prevalence increased a median of 7 percentage points from 1999 to 2001. Continued efforts are needed to increase the proportion of older adults who receive influenza and pneumococcal vaccines; health-care providers should offer pneumococcal vaccine all year and should continue to offer influenza vaccine during December and throughout the influenza season, even after influenza activity has been documented in the community.

PMID: 12458918, UI: 22346732

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N Engl J Med 2002 Nov 21;347(21):1703-5
 

The beginning of the end for cervical cancer?

Crum CP

Publication Types:
 

• Comment
• Editorial

PMID: 12444186, UI: 22331457

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