Protection of Newborn Animals through Maternal Immunization

Preventing newborn infection with maternal immunization.

Group B streptococcal disease is a common cause of bacterial sepsis in newborns and is often fatal. To protect these babies, a vaccination program must target pregnant women for immunization so that the resulting antibodies can be passively delivered from the mother to the fetus. Scientists met in Siena, Italy, to discuss potential approaches to maternal immunization for the prevention of perin...

Maternal immunity provides protection against pertussis in newborn piglets.

Pertussis continues to be a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and young children worldwide. Methods to control the disease are based on vaccination with either whole-cell or acellular vaccines or treatment with antibiotics. However, despite worldwide vaccination infants are still at the highest risk for the disease. Here we used our newly developed newborn-piglet model to ...

Maternal immunization: safe and effective.

Immunization with Recombinant Sip Protein Infection in Neonatal Mice by Maternal Protection from Group B Streptococcal

Protection from group B streptococcal infection in neonatal mice by maternal immunization with recombinant Sip protein.

The protective potential of antibodies directed against group B streptococcus (GBS) Sip surface protein was determined by using the mouse neonatal infection model. Rabbit Sip-specific antibodies administered passively to pregnant mice protected their pups against a GBS lethal challenge. In addition, active immunization with purified recombinant Sip protein of female CD-1 mice induced the produc...