The lymphocyte proliferation assay (LPA) is a technique to determine T-lymphocyte functions in vitro. The standard LPA using peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) separated from heparinized blood requires a large blood sample, time consuming and expensive. It is more useful if acid citrate dextrose (ACD) blood could be used not only for LPA but also for other purposes. To determine whether ...

Accurate determination of the concentrations of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody to tetanus toxoid is important in order to evaluate the immunogenicity of tetanus toxoid vaccines, determine immune competence in individual patients, and measure the prevalence of immunity in populations. The performance of three commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for IgG antibodies ...

We investigated mechanisms by which the soluble native envelope glycoprotein gpl20 of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) suppresses antigen-driven T cell responses. For this study, exogenous interleukin-2 (IL-2)independent, antigen-specific, CD4 positive, human T-cell clones were developed by cyclic restimulation with soluble tetanus toxoid antigen. In the presence of soluble antigen and ...

The concept of mass vaccination of large populations by inhalation of a vaccine in the form of an aerosol [Aleksandrov and Gefen, J. Microbiol. Epidemiol. Immunobiol. (USSR) 31:997, 1960; Sawyer, Kuehne, and Gochenour, Military Med. 129:1040, 1964] has a strong appeal. Aerosol vaccination could immunize a maximal number of people in a minimal period of time, and possibly could confer superior p...

The number of inoculations received by infants has reached formidable proportions. To minimize the number of injections required to produce full and effective immunization is one of the aims of all who are responsible for the prevention of disease in children. In recent years the efficacy of immunization procedures against diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough has become apparent. The desirabi...

Studying human antigen-specific memory B cells has been challenging because of low frequencies in peripheral blood, slow proliferation, and lack of antibody secretion. Therefore, most studies have relied on conversion of memory B cells into antibody-secreting cells by in vitro culture. To facilitate direct ex vivo isolation, we generated fluorescent antigen tetramers for characterization of mem...

LITTLE work has been done to determine the effect of successive injections of tetanus toxoid in individual persons. Ina study' of a small group of ,adults actively immunized with tetanus toxoid, Evans (1943) found that in no instance was the antitoxin titre eighteen months after the third injection lower than it was four months after the second; in four of eleven persons it was definitely highe...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of supplementary immunization activities to prevent neonatal tetanus in the Loralai district of Pakistan. The supplemental immunization activities were carried out in two phases during 2001-03. METHODS A state-transition model was used to estimate the effect of routine vaccination with tetanus toxoid as well as vaccinat...