BLOOD-SERUM THERAPY IN DIPHTHERIA

Danish contributions to the evaluation of serum therapy for diphtheria in the 1890s.

Characterization of serum anti-diphtheria antibody activity following administration of equine anti-toxin for suspected diphtheria

There is a global shortage of equine-derived diphtheria anti-toxin (DAT) for diphtheria treatment. There are few existing data on serum antibody concentrations and neutralizing activity post-treatment to support development of new therapeutics. Antibody concentrations were quantified by ELISA and anti-toxin neutralizing activity by cytotoxicity assay in serum from 4 patients receiving DAT for s...

Diphtheria antitoxin levels in US blood and plasma donors.

Plasma samples from 500 blood donors were titrated for diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) by the toxin neutralization (TN) test. Only 1.6% of donors had <0.01 IU/mL DAT, the minimum protective level against diphtheria; 15% had levels between 0.01 and <0.1 IU/mL, indicating basic protection, and 83.4% had levels > or =0.1 IU, indicating full protection. Three hundred fifty samples were studied by ELISA ...

Salivary flow rate and radioactivity in saliva, blood and serum of benign and malignant thyroid patients after 131I therapy

Background: Salivary flow rate (SFR), to estimate salivary gland dysfunction and radioactivity in different body fluids, to evaluate its intensity, were determined in thyroid patients after 131-I therapy. Material and Methods: For determination of SFR an innovative sponge test was adopted and the radioactivity in saliva, blood and serum of thyroid patients was determined by NaI (TI) Scintillati...

Diphtheria and tetanus immunity among blood donors in Toronto.

OBJECTIVE To determine the diphtheria and tetanus antitoxin levels among blood donors in Toronto. DESIGN Cross-sectional seroprevalence study. SETTING Two fixed-site blood-donation clinics in Toronto from September to November 1994. PARTICIPANTS Blood donors 20 years of age or older were eligible to participate; of the 781 eligible donors, 710 (90.9%) participated in the study. MAIN OUT...