The emergence of tetanus in wounded soldiers during the first months of the First World War (WWI) resulted from combat on richly manured fields in Belgium and Northern France, the use of modern explosives that produced deep tissue wounds and the intimate contact between the soldier and the soil upon which he fought. In response, routine prophylactic injections with anti-tetanus serum were given...

Rabbit antiidiotypic IgG directed against IgG F(ab')2 anti-tetanus toxoid (TT) antibodies ("idiotype") elicited a Prausnitz-Kustner reaction in normal skin sites sensitized 48 h earlier with the serum of the idiotype donor that contained IgE anti-TT antibodies. The serum moiety that caused the sensitization was heat sensitive (56 degrees C, 1 h), and was specifically removed by passage over imm...

We evaluated antibody persistence in children up to 5 years after administration of a combined Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)-Neisseria meningitidis serogroup C (MenC)-tetanus toxoid (TT) conjugate vaccine coadministered with a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. This is the follow-up study of a randomized trial (ClinicalTrials.gov registration no. NCT00334334/00463437) in which healthy childr...

To gain insight into why antibody responses to malarial antigens tend to be short lived, we studied antigen-specific memory B cells from donors in an area where malaria is endemic. We compared antibody and memory B cell responses to tetanus toxoid with those to 3 Plasmodium falciparum candidate vaccine antigens: the C-terminal portion of merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1(19)), apical membrane a...

Regulation of serum anti-DNA antibody in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by an antiidiotypic antibody was evaluated. Various sera from SLE patients in active and inactive states of their disease, as well as sera from normal individuals, were first completely depleted of anti-DNA and of DNA by affinity chromatography. The suppressive capacity of equimolar concentrations of the various deplete...

BACKGROUND Pertussis occurs in older children, adolescents and adults due to waning immunity after primary vaccination. Booster vaccination for pre-school children has been recommended in Italy since 1999. In this study (NCT00871000), the immunogenicity, safety and reactogenicity of a booster dose of reduced-antigen content diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-inactivated poliovirus vaccine (...

BACKGROUND Adjuvants are used to increase the immunogenicity of new generation vaccines, especially those based on recombinant proteins. Despite immunostimulatory properties, the use of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) as an adjuvant has been hampered due to its toxicity and pyrogenicity. Brucella abortus LPS is less toxic and has no pyrogenic properties compared to LPS from other gram negati...

Tetanus antitoxin in human sera was detected with solid-phase immunoassays in microtitration modules coated with tetanus toxoid by using Eu(3+)-labeled anti-human monoclonal antibodies on the basis of an exactly calibrated antibody standard. The use of a time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay (TR-FIA) significantly improved the quantitative detection of tetanus antitoxin over that of the enzyme...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE Cellular immunity abnormalities are associated with sarcoidosis. Normal cellular immunity is required for adequate humoral immunity; therefore, a decreased humoral immune response is possible in patients with sarcoidosis. We evaluated humoral immunity by vaccinating patients with sarcoidosis against tetanus. PATIENTS AND METHOD We screened 60 patients with sarcoidosis...