A murine colonization model was used to determine the effect of co-administering 7-valent polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine and pneumococcal surface adhesin A. Mice were challenged intranasally with either PCV7 serotypes, 4 or 14, or a non-PCV7 serotype, 19A. Post-challenge samples were evaluated for IgG antibody levels, opsonophagocytic activity, and nasopharyngeal colonization. No inte...

This article tests whether parents reinforce or compensate for child endowments. We estimate how the difference in birth weight across siblings impacts specific parental investments: breast-feeding, well-baby visits, immunizations, and preschool attendance. Our results indicate that normal-birthweight children are 5%-11% more likely to receive early childhood parental investments than their low...

In spite of the routine 2-dose vaccination and three recent supplemental immunizations, Mongolia experienced a measles outbreak in 2001, the largest epidemic in the country since 1984. The majority of cases were reported in the capital city, and the disease incidence was higher in infants and adolescents than in other age groups. Young adults who received the immunization only once may have low...

This review article discusses disparities in immunization rates for beneficiaries of the US Medicare program. The review considers: 1) historical and statistical information on rates of immunization; 2) goals set forward by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities related to adult immunization; 3) barriers experienced by Medicare ben...

Public health officials have dis­ covered that 66 percent o f the American students and 88 percent o f the foreign students at Notre Dame lack p roper immunizations. This was learned after officials ex­ amined the health records o f 9,000 students fo llow ing recent outbreaks o f measles and rubella on college campuses across the country. Dr. James E. Bowes, pub lic health office r o f St. Jose...

Antibodies stand between us and pathogens. Viruses mutate quickly to avoid detection, and antibodies mutate at similar rates to hunt them down. This death spiral is fueled by specialized proteins and error-prone polymerases that change DNA sequences. Here, we explore how B lymphocytes stay in the race by expressing activation-induced deaminase, which unleashes a tsunami of mutations in the immu...

The response of the immune system to different vaccination patterns is studied with a simple model. It is argued that the history and characteristics of the pattern defines very different secondary immune responses in the case of infection. The memory function of the immune response can be set to work in very different modes depending on the pattern followed during immunizations. It is argued t...