OBJECTIVETo investigate the immunity level of diphtheria antibody among children living in the areas where different coverage rates of 4-vaccines stratified by results of national immunization program (NIP) reviewed in 2004.

METHODSAccording to data from 4-vaccine coverage rates of NIP reviewed in 2004, 3 levels could be set. We randomly selected 2 counties at each level and then 10 villages from each county with 42 children involved who were born between 1992 and 2003. ELISA quantitative method was used to test IgG of diphtheria antitoxin.

RESULTS(1) The positive rate of diphtheria antitoxin was only 49.6% with the highest as 78.1% and lowest as 33.0%. There was a significant decreasing trend of this positive rate with the increase of age. The highest (61.2%) fell in the group that were born in 2003 and the lowest (37.6%) was seen among children born in 1992 to 1995. (2) Geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) was only 0.48 IU/ml with a trend of decrease when age was increasing. There was no GMCs peak seen in children who were at the age of boosting, as expected. (3) Positive rates of children born between 2001 and 2003 were lower than 62% while the diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus (DPT) vaccine coverage rates were all higher than 90%. (4) There was no significant difference of diphtheria antitoxin positive rates between children with eligible routine immunization (58.1%) and those were ineligible (59.6%).

CONCLUSIONOther than some specific ones, children from most of the investigated counties had a low level of antibody against diphtheria. The coverage rate of DPT vaccine did not necessarily reflect the immunity against diphtheria, suggesting the increase of immunity against diphtheria an urgent task to be taken care of.

Adolescent ; Age Distribution ; Antibodies, Bacterial ; immunology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; China ; Diphtheria ; immunology ; prevention & control ; Diphtheria Antitoxin ; immunology ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Male

We evaluated tetanus specific IgG, IgM, IgG subclasses after DPT vaccination in infants and children. Tetanus toxoid specific IgG, IgM IgG subclasses were measured to characterize the isotope profile of antibody against tetanus toxoid. The values of the tetanus specific IgG in the positive group were significantly increased compared to those of the control group, and were significantly increased after two inoculation. Tetanus specific IgG was very low in adults and neonates. In our tetanus specific IgG subclasses study, forty-five of 56 cases (80%) showed predominantly IgG1 antibody responses to tetanus toxoid, while twenty-five of 56 cases (45%) showed IgG4 responses. Both IgG1 and IgG4 responses were demonstrated in 17 cases (30%). So we suggest that IgG was mainly involved in humoral immune response after DPT vaccination, and IgG1 may play an important role among IgG subclasses. IgG4, alone or together with IgG1, can also play a role in immune response to tetanus toxoid.
Antibodies, Bacterial/*biosynthesis ; Antibody Specificity ; Child ; Clostridium tetani/immunology ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine/*immunology ; Human ; Immunoglobulin G/biosynthesis/classification ; Immunoglobulin M/biosynthesis ; Infant

We investigated the prevalence of pertussis in Korean adolescents and adults with persistent cough. Study population was adolescents (aged 11-20 yr) and adults (> or = 21 yr old) who showed persistent cough of 1-8 weeks' duration. Pertussis was diagnosed by culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and serology. A total of 310 subjects participated in this study, and 76 cases (24.5%) met the criteria for laboratory-confirmed pertussis. The majority of the pertussis cases (66/76) were confirmed by serology, while 3 cases (1.0%) were diagnosed with culture, and 10 cases (3.2%) were detected with PCR. Of the 76 subjects diagnosed with pertussis, 20/86 cases were adolescents and 56/224 cases were adults. Neither adolescents nor adults received adolescent-adult booster against pertussis within the previous 5 yr. Pertussis can be a primary cause of persistent cough in Korean adolescents and adults.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Bordetella pertussis/immunology ; Child ; Cough/*epidemiology ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine/immunology/*therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Immunization, Secondary/*utilization ; Male ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Whooping Cough/*epidemiology/immunology ; Young Adult

INTRODUCTIONChildren in Singapore receive vaccination against hepatitis B virus (HBV) at 0, 1 and 5 or 6 months of age, and vaccination against pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, and polio at 3, 4 and 5 months of age. Parents often choose to vaccinate with the combined acellular-pertussis-inactivated polio-Hib vaccine (DTPa-IPV/Hib). We investigated whether a combined hexavalent vaccine, DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib, could replace the separate administration of DTPa-IPV/Hib and HBV for the final vaccination at 5 months of age (Trial DTPa-HBV-IPV-075).

MATERIALS AND METHODSIn an open study, 150 children were randomised to complete their vaccination schedule with DTPa-IPV/Hib + HBV or DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib.

RESULTSOne month after the final vaccination, there was no difference between groups in seroprotection rates or antibody concentrations against HBV. Seroprotection rates against diphtheria, tetanus, Hib and polio, as well as vaccine response rates to pertussis antigens were also similar between groups. Local and general symptoms occurred at a similar rate after the third dose of either vaccine.

CONCLUSIONThe immunogenicity and reactogenicity of the hexavalent vaccine DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib (Infanrix hexa, GSK) group is comparable to that of separately administered DTPa-IPV/Hib and HBV vaccines. Combined hexavalent vaccine, DTPa-HBV-IPV/Hib, could replace the separate administration of DTPa-IPV/Hib and HBV for vaccination at 5 months of age, thereby reducing the number of injections required.

Diphtheria ; immunology ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine ; Female ; Haemophilus Vaccines ; Haemophilus influenzae ; immunology ; Hepatitis B ; prevention & control ; Hepatitis B Antibodies ; blood ; Hepatitis B Vaccines ; administration & dosage ; Humans ; Immunization Schedule ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Poliovirus Vaccine, Inactivated ; Singapore ; Tetanus ; immunology ; Vaccination ; Vaccines, Combined ; administration & dosage ; Vaccines, Inactivated

OBJECTIVETo observe the morphological and molecular biological peculiarities of the experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP) rat model made by SC purified prostate protein twice with immune adjuvant.

METHODSMale rats were intradermally immunized with a saline extract of male rat prostate glands (RPG) in Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) and Pertussis-Diphtheria-Tetanus vaccine 0.5 ml i.p. at the 0 and 30th day, and the concentrations of the extract were respectively 5 mg/ml, 10 mg/ml and 15 mg/ml. At the 45th day, the rats were sacrificed and the morphological and molecular biological changes of the prostate specimens were observed to determine the effective concentration of RPG for a successful model.

RESULTSThe expression of inflammation genes such as TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, IL-2 and iNOS obviously increased in the high-dosage model group; LM, EM and in situ hybridization revealed appearant chronic inflammation response, but this was not the case in the other two dosage groups.

CONCLUSION15 mg/ml RPG mixed with FCA (1:1) 1.0 ml SC with Pertussis-Diphtheria-Tetanus vaccine 0.5 ml i.p. was an effective dosage for the successful model in our experiment.

Animals ; Autoimmune Diseases ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine ; administration & dosage ; Disease Models, Animal ; Freund's Adjuvant ; administration & dosage ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Male ; Prostate ; metabolism ; pathology ; Prostatitis ; immunology ; metabolism ; pathology ; Proteins ; administration & dosage ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar