OBJECTIVE To evaluate the ability of a proprietary arabinogalactan extract from the larch tree (ResistAid, Lonza Ltd., Basel, Switzerland) to change the immune response in healthy adults to a standardized antigenic challenge (tetanus and influenza vaccines) in a dose-dependent manner compared to placebo. METHODS This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial included 75 healthy adult...

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 ...

INTRODUCTION Controversy exists about the effectiveness of vaccine-induced immune response in patients with immunoregulatory disorders. Our aim was to determine the antibody titers to diphtheria and tetanus in patients with either of two autoimmune diseases. METHODS 279 patients with SLE (205 females, aged 45.0 ± 13.8 years), 158 patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) (101 females, aged 55 ± 18...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate immune protection against vaccine-preventable diseases targeted by the Expanded Program of Immunization in Saudi Arabia. METHODS The study was carried out from September 2001 to February 2002. Using multistage sampling techniques, samples were collected from 5 regions of Saudi Arabia and sent for laboratory assay from the following age groups; 50 samples at 12 months, 50...

AIM To determine the influence of placental malaria, maternal HIV infection, and maternal hypergammaglobulinaemia on transplacental IgG antibody transfer. METHODS One hundred and eighty materno-neonatal pairs from a Malawian population were assessed. Cord and maternal serum samples were tested for total serum IgG antibody titres using nephelometry, and for specific IgG antibody titres to Stre...

In a comparative study, the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, using peroxidase labeled anti-rat immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G, and the passive hemagglutination test were applied to determine the primary and secondary antibody response to lipopolysaccharide and tetanus toxoid in rats. In the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, the antigens were bound to the wells of polystyrene microplat...

Recombinant cholera toxin B subunit (rCTB) which is produced by Bacillus brevis carrying pNU212-CTB acts as a mucosal adjuvant capable of enhancing host immune responses specific to unrelated, mucosally co-administered vaccine antigens. When mice were administered intranasally with diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) combination vaccine consisting of diphtheria toxoid (DTd), tetanus toxoid (TTd)...

Epidemiological data regarding tetanus and diphtheria immunity in elderly people in Brazil are scarce. During the First National Immunization Campaign for the Elderly in Brazil in April 1999, 98 individuals (median age: 84 years) received one tetanus-dyphtheria (Td) vaccine dose (Butantan Institute, lot number 9808079/G). Inclusion criteria were elderly individuals without a history of severe i...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate vaccine coverage and humoral immunity to tetanus, diphtheria and poliomyelitis in adults followed for systemic inflammatory and/or autoimmune diseases (SIADs). METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted between June and August 2006 in a monocentric cohort of adults with SIAD. A standardized questionnaire was administered to collect medical, therapeutic and vaccine cov...

It has been suggested that administering vitamin A with the measles vaccine may reduce the vaccine's immunogenicity. This trial examined the effect of supplementing vitamin A during the early months of life on infants' immune responses to tetanus and polio vaccines. Young infants (n = 1085) were enrolled and individually randomized into 1 of 4 groups in a factorial, double-blind, placebo-contro...