OBJECTIVE The policy of administering the second dose of measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine (MMR(2)) has recently changed in Iran, at age 1.5 years instead of 4-6 years previously. The effects of such a change on the immune status of the individual are evaluated in this study. METHODS Totally 249 and 228 children aged 18 months and 4- to 6-year-olds, respectively, with a documented receipt o...

BACKGROUND Although measles incidence has been reduced to low levels in many countries, the potential exists for HIV-1 infection to enhance measles virus (MV) transmission and hinder measles control and elimination efforts. METHODS HIV-1 infection was incorporated into an age-structured, deterministic compartmental model of MV transmission. Parameter estimates were obtained from published stu...

Memory B cells are a central component of humoral immunity, and yet little is known about their longevity in humans. Immune memory after smallpox vaccination (DryVax) is a valuable benchmark for understanding the longevity of B cell memory in the absence of re-exposure to Ag. In this study, we demonstrate that smallpox vaccine-specific memory B cells last for >50 years in immunized individuals....

BACKGROUND Pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) is recommended for all adults 65 years of age and older and for younger adults with high-risk conditions. While data from national surveys provide information on the proportion of adults 65 years of age and older reporting ever receipt of PPV they do not collect more detailed information, such as age at vaccination or the total number of vacc...

Pneumococcal disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among elderly persons. Invasive infections including bacteremic pneumonia and meningitis are responsible for tens of thousands of hospitalizations and thousands of deaths in this age group each year. According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the United States in 2008 approximately one-thir...

OBJECTIVE To estimate the longterm humoral response of an antipneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)-associated spondyloarthropathy (SpA), and the effect of demographic and clinical factors and treatment on the longterm efficacy of the vaccine. METHODS ...