Plasma samples from 500 blood donors were titrated for diphtheria antitoxin (DAT) by the toxin neutralization (TN) test. Only 1.6% of donors had <0.01 IU/mL DAT, the minimum protective level against diphtheria; 15% had levels between 0.01 and <0.1 IU/mL, indicating basic protection, and 83.4% had levels > or =0.1 IU, indicating full protection. Three hundred fifty samples were studied by ELISA ...

Guinea pigs infected by intradermal injection of living toxigenic diphtheria bacilli and protected by horse antitoxic globulin, given either before or after infection, develop delayed hypersensitivity of the tuberculin type to diphtherial proteins. The highest degree of hypersensitivity is specifically directed against diphtheria toxin (or toxoid) itself, although smaller delayed skin reactions...

The tetanusanddiphtheriavaccinationprogramme inFinlandhasbeen running for50years.Afterprimary doses, tetanusboostershavebeenoffered tomen inmilitary service anddecennial boosters recommended for all through the adult life. For 30 years a diphtheria booster was only offered to men in the military service. Not until 1989 diphtheria–tetanus (dT) and diphtheria (d) booster vaccines for adolescence ...

We have isolated temperature-sensitive diphtheria toxins (DT-A(ts)) to develop a method that allows temporal impedement of cellular functions. Four DT-A(ts) genes were isolated in a mutagenesis screen using the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. When expressed in yeast, these DT-A(ts) arrest growth at 18 degrees C but not at 30 degrees C. Three DT-A(ts) were subsequently tested in the R1-R6 photo...

The genome sequence of the human pathogen Corynebacterium diphtheriae bv. mitis strain ISS 3319 was determined and closed in this study. The genome is estimated to have 2,404,936 bp encoding 2,257 proteins. This strain also possesses a plasmid of 1,960 bp.

Despite the availability of a tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine in the United States since 2005, the vaccine remains underutilized and perhaps misunderstood by many physicians. Pertussis continues to be a major public health problem, with adults being the primary source of infectious transmission to unprotected infants. Consequently, the Centers f...

We evaluated the reactogenicity and immunogenicity of a booster dose of diphtheria-tetanus vaccine administered at the age of school-entry, comparing a low-dose vaccine (dT) to the standard paediatric dose (DT). Participants were randomly assigned to receive one of the two vaccines; the study was evaluator-blinded. The frequency of side-reactions was similar when comparing the two groups, excep...

BACKGROUND Because adolescents and adults act as a primary source of pertussis infection for infants, vaccination of mothers immediately postpartum is a potential strategy to reduce transmission (cocoon strategy). For this to be effective, high levels of antibodies must be achieved rapidly after vaccination. We sought to determine whether the antibody response to tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pe...

BCG, the attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, has been widely used as a vaccine against tuberculosis and is thus an important candidate as a live carrier for multiple antigens. With the aim of developing a recombinant BCG (rBCG) vaccine against diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus (DPT), we analyzed the potential of CRM(197), a mutated nontoxic derivative of diphtheria toxin, as the recombin...

Diphtheria toxoid-antitoxin precipitates formed in antitoxin excess can prepare guinea pigs, rats, and rabbits for a secondary type of antitoxin response. Priming may occur without the development of detectable serum antibody. In rats, toxoid-antitoxin precipitates are more efficient than "free" toxoid in priming, whereas in guinea pigs, the magnitude of the anamnestic response varies with the ...