OBJECTIVES To assess the immunogenicity of vaccines for infants and to investigate whether the incidence of reactogenicity is reduced after each immunisation dose using needles of varying lengths and gauges. DESIGN Randomised controlled trial. SETTING 18 general practices within two UK primary care trusts. PARTICIPANTS 696 healthy infants vaccinated at 2, 3, and 4 months of age, with foll...

We have recently shown that the human antibody response to the hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg) vaccine is major histocompatibility complex (MHC) associated. In studies of nonresponders to the vaccine, we found an increased incidence of individuals homozygous for human histocompatibility leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins associated with the extended (conserved) haplotype [HLA-B8,SC01,DR...

Controlling the global COVID-19 pandemic depends, among other measures, on developing preventive vaccines at an unprecedented pace. Vaccines approved for use and those in development intend to elicit neutralizing antibodies block viral sites binding host’s cellular receptors. Virus infection is mediated by spike glycoprotein trimer virion surface via its receptor domain (RBD). Antibody response...

The main objective of this study was to investigate the booster antibody response in individuals with initially high levels of diphtheria antitoxin. Sixty individuals eligible for the routine booster by the age of 18 years each received a single dose of 5 Lf of diphtheria toxoid in diphtheria-tetanus vaccine. A double antigen ELISA was used for the assessment of the antibody levels. Chaotropic ...

In 1909, Theobald Smith (1) showed that injection of partially neutralized diphtheria toxin-antitoxin mixtures induced antitoxin formation in experimental animals, but that immunity did not result from mixtures containing a sufficient excess of antitoxin. These observations were subsequently confirmed (2-6) and have been extended to the study of additional antigens, such as tetanus toxoid (7-10...

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 World Health Organization recommends a booster dose of a pertussis-containing vaccine for children aged 1-6 years, preferably during the second year of life. This study assessed the immunogenicity and safety of a pentavalent combination vaccine containing diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, inactivated poliovirus, and conjugated-Hib polysaccharide antigens, [(DTaP-IPV//PRP-T (Pentaxim...