INTRODUCTION Subcutaneous (SQ) vaccination has emerged as standard of care in children with severe bleeding disorders to reduce unnecessary factor exposure and avoid provoking an intramuscular bleed, but little is known about comparative immunogenicity to intramuscular (IM) vaccination. AIM To confirm immunogenicity of Diphtheria Tetanus acellular Pertussis (DTaP) vaccines administered SQ to ...

Sir, Haemodialysis patients constitute a high risk population for HBV infection because of frequent blood transfusion and sharing of haemodialysis machine’. To determine the frequency of HBV infection in haemodialysis patients and see the antibody response following vaccination we selected 65 patients from a major haemodialysis unit where vaccination for HBV infection is not mandatory and selec...

Chikungunya is a mosquito-borne infection of humans, and its diffusion has increased worldwide. In 2007 an outbreak occurred in Italy. In this study, the antibody response of 133 patients followed up starting from the acute phase of infection was investigated. Antibody titres were periodically scored up to 1 year since the infection: 82.7% of the IgM antibody disappeared within 12 months, and t...

A 29-year-old woman suffered from headaches, diarrhoea, and high grade fever followed by a unilateral retinal vasculitis, papillitis, and chorioretinitis. Abnormal electrocardiographic findings and antibody titre dynamics strongly suggested a coxsackievirus B3 infection. With respect to prior observations on coxsackievirus B group associated uveitis this viral infection may be considered in pat...

Subacute thyroiditis is extremely rare during the first decade of life. We describe a case of subacute thyroiditis in a 2 year old child whose initial clinical, sonographic, and radioisotopic features were indistinguishable from acute suppurative thyroiditis. The diagnosis was established by a raised antibody titre against adenovirus and typical increased thyroid function tests.

A 27 year old homosexual man developed unusual sacral lesions during a disseminated primary herpetic attack, which was confirmed by viral culture and rising antibody titre. The lesions had a striking framboesiform appearance and healed without ulceration or scarring. Review of modern and historical published reports suggests that this may be the first illustrated description of such infection.

A case of high grade B cell lymphoma presented with bone marrow necrosis, followed by development of extensive marrow fibrosis, the evolution of which was documented by serial magnetic resonance imaging and bone marrow trephine histology. A markedly raised anticardiolipin antibody titre at diagnosis suggests that lymphoma associated antiphospholipid syndrome may have contributed to the aetiolog...

In a 20-year-old woman who developed pelvic peritonitis and perihepatitis Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated from the lower genital tract. There was a significant rise in the antibody titre against C trachomatis, suggesting that an ascending infection by this organism may have been responsible for the condition

A case of respiratory infection in a child due to Chlamydia pneumoniae is reported. The diagnosis was made by the detection of chlamydial antigen in the tracheal secretion and a significant increase in C. pneumoniae antibody titre. The infection responded well to erythromycin therapy.

Thirty children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) were studied and had a virus isolated. Only 50% produced a significant rise in complement fixing (CF) antibody titre compared to 100% of normal children. The failure to produce antibodies was unpredictable. CF antibodies are not a reliable guide to virus infections in children with ALL.