INTRODUCTION Recombinant hepatitis B vaccine was introduced in 1986 and has gradually replaced the plasma-derived hepatitis B vaccine. No published data are available on the immunogenicity of hepatitis B vaccines in Nigerians. The current study aimed to evaluate protective sero-conversion rates after vaccination with Shanvac-B rDNA hepatitis B vaccine in Nigerian subjects between January and Se...

The present study reports on the treatment of bleeding episodes and the natural history of factor VIII inhibitors in 4 patients with acquired haemophilia A postpartum. Low titre type II factor VIII inhibitors in 3 patients and high titre type I inhibitor in 1 patient became apparent immediately to 7 months after delivery. High dose human factor VIII concentrate substitution was effective in con...

BACKGROUND Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) are suspected of having relevance to adverse reproductive events. METHODS This study aims to investigate the potential effect of ANA on IVF/ICSI outcome and the therapeutic role of prednisone plus low-dose aspirin (P + A) adjuvant treatment in ANA + patients. The first IVF/ICSI cycles without P + A of sixty-six ANA + women were enrolled as the ANA + gr...

Sera from 225 men and 140 women were examined by an indirect immunofluorescent antibody technique for antibody reactive with Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Antigonococcal IgM was demonstrated at a titre of greater than or equal to 16 in about 45% of infected, but in only 3% of non-infected, patients. Most of this antibody occurred in sera of patients who had been infected for less than 14 days. Antibod...

The relationship between faecal toxin titre, histological evidence of pseudomembrane in the rectum, and severity of antibiotic-associated colitis has been analysed from data on 62 patients whose faeces contained Clostridium difficile toxin. There was a significant correlation between a toxin titre of 6400 or more and the presence of pseudomembrane (p less than 005). There was no correlation bet...

In March, 1948, Rose and others described a test for rheumatoid arthritis which depended on the ability of serum from patients with rheumatoid arthritis to agglutinate " sensitized " sheep erythrocytes in much higher titre than normal sheep erythrocytes. The authors reported results in 110 patients, of whom 27 had active rheumatoid arthritis and 16 inactive rheumatoid arthritis, 3 Still's disea...

OBJECTIVE A positive antinuclear antibody (ANA), while sensitive, is not specific for systemic lupus erythematosus or connective tissue diseases (CTD). The purpose of the present study was to review those sera with a high titre (> or = dilutions above screening) ANA and determine from a review of the charts if these higher titres offered a satisfactory specificity for CTD. METHODS All FANA te...

INTRODUCTION A few studies have been focused on low-titre inhibitors in patients with haemophilia A. Although several putative factors have been implicated in the development of these inhibitors, solid data are still lacking. AIM The aim of this study was to perform a proportion meta-analysis on the incidence of low-titre inhibitors in haemophilia A. METHODS We surveyed the PubMed database ...

Liver function tests and Entamoeba histolytica (E.H.) antibody titres have been studied in a variety of tropical and liver diseases. Patients with hepatic amoebiasis had a raised E.H. antibody titre and tended to have a low pseudocholinesterase activity. In two cases of amoebic liver abscess, which were treated by aspiration and emetine, there was a remarkable drop in the E.H. antibody titre. I...