BACKGROUND Varicella vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1995 for individuals ≥12 months of age. A second dose was recommended in the United States in June 2006. Varicella incidence and vaccine effectiveness were assessed in a 14-year prospective study conducted at Kaiser Permanente Northern California. METHODS A total of 7585 children vaccinated with varicella vaccine in their secon...

Viral antigen prepared by heat inactivation of vaccinia virus stimulated production of interferon in association with transformation of sensitized human lymphocytes in vitro. Involvement of a macrophage-lymphocyte interaction in production of interferon stimulated by viral antigen was found in which macrophage greatly augmented the amount of interferon produced by lymphocytes. Reimmunization wi...

they call it in Fiji. Having been in the West Indies for several years, I was able to recognise that these cases were in all essentials identical with yaws, the ravages of which disease in many of the islands of the West Indies are so notorious and far-reaching, that the public there spot it at once, in the same way as with us they usually recognise chicken-pox or measles. I have thought it wel...

Infectious diseases that originate from multiple wildlife hosts can be complex and problematic to manage. A full understanding is further limited by large temporal and spatial gaps in sampling. However, these limitations can be overcome, in part, by using historical samples, such as those derived from museum collections. Here, we screened over 1000 museum specimens collected over the past 120 y...

Although the majority of different members of poxviruses have been carefully studied, !ittle is known about goat pox and no detailed report on the disease and its causative agent is, so far, available. The cultivation of goat pox virus (GPV) in cell cultures reported in the present paper makes available the most reliable and economic source for large s~ale produc~ion of vaccine to control the d...

It is known that geographical and climatic conditions influence the presence and prevalence of animal’s diseases worldwide. During a period of veterinary practice in Saudi Arabia, an intensive bibliographic search for local parrot’s diseases was performed, but no mention whatever was found. In an attempt to fill this lack, a retrospective analysis of 100 consecutive clinic cases examined in Jed...

Paridae pox, a novel avipoxvirus infection, has recently been identified as an emerging infectious disease affecting wild tit species in Great Britain. The incursion of Paridae pox to a long-term study site where populations of wild tits have been monitored in detail for several decades provided a unique opportunity to obtain information on the local-scale epidemiological characteristics of thi...

Vaccines are developed to mobilize the immune system of the recipient to react against an invading micro-organism and thus prevent infection to occur in the body. Besides immuno-prophylaxis, several vaccines have also revealed their precious immuno-therapeutic properties. Yet another highly important function of vaccines is their utilization for “Eradication” of a disease. Eradication of small ...

IN HER recent article on the history of smallpox, Lise Wilkinson recalls some observations on preventive transmission of cowpox to man made before Jenner.1 Among the names mentioned it is surprising not to find that of Jacques-Antoine Rabaut-Pommier (1744-1820), a French protestant pastor born in Nimes and living near Montpellier. Concerning Rabaut-Pommier, Beaulieu recalls (English translation...

Viruses are the most commonly used vectors for clinical gene therapy. The risk of dissemination of a viral vector into the environment via excreta from the treated patient, a phenomenon called shedding, is a major safety concern for the environment. Despite the significant number of clinical gene therapy trials that have been conducted worldwide, there is currently no overview of actual sheddin...