In a previous attempt to generate a protective vaccine against Candida albicans, a β-mannan tetanus toxoid conjugate showed poor immunogenicity in mice. To improve the specific activation toward the fungal pathogen, we aimed to target Dectin-1, a pattern-recognition receptor expressed on monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells. Laminarin, a β-glucan ligand of Dectin-1, was incorporated into...

Dear Editor: Villaseñor-Sierra and colleagues present data on the serotypes and antibiotic susceptibility of S. pneumoniae strains from 48 children 1 to 12 years of age with invasive infections and 50 carriers in Mexico from March 2000 to May 2005.1 Serotype distribution, in addition to incidence of disease, is an important parameter to assess conjugate vaccination and this information adds to ...

This paper reports the results of comprehensive laboratory surveillance of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in Australia during 2001 and 2002. The 7-valent conjugate pneumococcal vaccine was introduced for high risk paediatric groups, including Indigenous children, in late 2001. Of 1,355 isolates from non-Indigenous children, 86 per cent belonged to serotypes and 93 per cent to serogroups re...

Glycoconjugate vaccines have dramatically reduced the incidence of encapsulated bacterial diseases in toddlers under 2 years of age, but vaccine-induced antibody levels in this age group wane rapidly. We immunized adults and 12-month-old toddlers with heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine to determine differences in B-cell and antibody responses. The adults and 12-month-old toddlers receiv...

A meta-analysis was performed on the immunogenicity of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccines after 2 (2 and 4 months) and 3 doses (2, 4, and 6 months) in Korean infants. A database search of MEDLINE, KoreaMed, and Korean Medical Database was done. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of infants with anti-polyribosylribitol phosphate (PRP) concentrations > or =1.0 micr...

Streptococcus pneumoniae causes serious infections. Treatment is difficult because of the emergence of penicillin resistance in S. pneumoniae. Pneumococcal vaccines offer the promise of control and prevention of pneumococcal infections. Serotype prevalence and penicillin susceptibility data for a country will predict the usefulness of the vaccines in that country. In Kuwait, the 23-valent polys...

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the impact of heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in invasive pneumococcal diseases in the United States, and to analyze the potential impact of this vaccine in Brazil. SOURCES OF DATA MEDLINE, LILACS, Cochrane Database Reviews, as well as the websites of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Brazilian Ministry of Health and Centro de Vigilância E...

Streptococcus pneumoniae remains a leading cause of invasive infections including bacteremia and meningitis, as well as mucosal infections such as otitis media and pneumonia among children and adults. The 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was licensed for use among infants and young children in many countries including Korea. The routine use of PCV7 has resulted in a decreased inci...

INTRODUCTION Adjuvants (for example, aluminum salts) are frequently incorporated in licensed vaccines to enhance the host immune response. Such vaccines include the pneumococcal conjugate, combinations of diphtheria-tetanus/acellular pertussis, tetanus- diphtheria/acellular pertussis, hepatitis B, some Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis A, and human papillomavirus. These preparations have...

BACKGROUND Group A Neisseria meningitidis has been a major cause of bacterial meningitis in the sub-Saharan region of Africa in the meningitis belt. Neisseria meningitidis is an encapsulated pathogen, and antibodies against the capsular polysaccharide are protective. Polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines have proven to be highly effective against several different encapsulated bacterial pat...