The diphtheria epidemic in eastern Europe and the worldwide increase in diphtheria morbidity have sparked discussion on whether people in western Europe are adequately protected. 2 In western Europe, the effectiveness of long term protection afforded by immunisation programmes is under debate. In Belgium, the national immunisation programme against diphtheria was introduced in 1959. Vaccination...

OBJECTIVES To describe the epidemiology of infant pertussis in King County, Washington, and to better understand the implications for tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccination among older children, adolescents, and adults. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of reported pertussis cases among infants younger than 1 year, January 1, 2002, through December 3...

diphtheria is a fatal disease caused by exotoxin of corynebacterium     diphtheria .  this toxin consists of   two chains, catalytic chain (a) and binding (b) chain. by binding chain (b),   the toxin binds to its receptor on numerous body cells such as myocardial,   kidney and peripheral nerve cells. after entering, catalytic chain (a)   inhibits protein synthesis and finally can cause cell dea...

Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis both synthesize the surface polysaccharide poly-N-acetyl-beta-(1-6)-glucosamine (PNAG), which is produced in vitro with a high level (>90%) of the amino groups substituted by acetate. Here, we examined the role of the acetate substituents of PNAG in generating opsonic and protective antibodies. PNAG and a deacetylated form of the antigen (dPN...

BACKGROUND Although 93% of 12- to 23-month-old children in India receive at least one vaccine, typically Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, only 75% complete the recommended three doses of diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT, also referred to as DTP) vaccine. Determinants can be different for nonvaccination and dropout but have not been examined in earlier studies. We use the three-dose DPT series as a pr...

Background Maternal vaccination against group B Streptococcus (GBS) might provide protection against invasive GBS disease in infants. We investigated the kinetics of transplacentally transferred GBS serotype-specific capsular antibodies in the infants and their immune response to diphtheria toxoid and pneumococcal vaccination. Methods This phase 1b/2, observer-blind, single-center study (NCT0...

In October 2011, a child who had arrived in Sweden from Somalia presented with atypical tonsillitis, was treated with penicillin and the symptoms resolved. A throat swab was positive for toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae. The child's family were then vaccinated with diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine and screened for C. diphtheriae. No secondary cases were found. A high level of adhe...

The aim of this study was to evaluate diphtheria immunity in a sample of the Turkish population having high childhood immunization coverage, including a booster dose of diphtheria toxoid at 12-15 years of age. A total of 599 persons aged 1-70 years were selected with cluster sampling. The information on socio-demographic characteristics, vaccination status and diphtheria history was gathered fo...

Diphtheria toxin (DT)-based anti-CD3 immunotoxins have clinical relevance in numerous applications including autoimmune disease therapies and organ transplantation tolerance protocols. Pre-existing anti-DT antibodies acquired either by vaccination against diphtheria toxin or infections with C. diphtheriae may interfere or inhibit the function of these anti-CD3 immunotoxins. Previously, a full-l...