This study attempts to develop a reference substance for the live bacteria count of Streptococcicosis live vaccines in order to evaluate the validity of live bacterial count in inspection and testing. We prepared a batch of live Streptococcus suis reference substance for live bacterial count, tested their physical property, purity, vacuum degree, remaining moisture, and determined their homogeneity, thermal stability and transportation stability. Moreover, we organized collaborative calibration to assign count values to the reference substance and determine the shelf life of the reference substance in 12 months. The results showed that the physical property, the purity, the remaining moisture and the vacuum degree of the reference substance were all in compliance with the requirements of the Chinese Veterinary Pharmacopoeia. The homogeneity test showed that the coefficient of variation of the count of the reference substance was less than 10%, indicating a good homogeneity. Transportation stability test showed that the reference substance remained active after 72 h transportation in summer and winter with the package of styrofoam boxes and ice packs. Thermal stability test showed that the reference substance could be stored for up to 3 months at -20 °C, or up to 21 days at 4 °C. According to the collaborative calibration, the reference vaccine was assigned a count value range of (8.5-12.1)×107 CFU/ampoule. The shelf life test showed that the reference substance was stable for 12 months when stored at -70 °C. The reference substance could provide a reference for the live bacterial count of Streptococcicosis live vaccines. Moreover, it could also be used as a reference to evaluate the quality of corresponding agar media.
Bacterial Load ; Reference Standards ; Vaccines, Attenuated

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) has proved to be the most important measure for rabies prevention and control. There is little information regarding adverse reactions to the Essen and 2-1-1 regimens in preschool children (aged 0-6). We reexamined the outcomes of 1,109 preschool children who were vaccinated using SPEEDA under the Essen regimen between January 2011 and December 2012 and 1,267 preschool children under the 2-1-1 regimen between January 2013 and December 2014. We find that, in preschool children, the febrile reaction after the first 2-dose injection in the 2-1-1 regimen was significantly higher than that induced by the first 1-dose in the Essen procedure. Thus, we recommend that the Essen regimen should still be used for rabies PEP in preschool children.
Child ; Child, Preschool ; Germany ; Humans ; Infant ; Post-Exposure Prophylaxis ; standards ; Rabies ; prevention & control ; Rabies Vaccines ; adverse effects ; Vaccination ; adverse effects

In Korea, several outbreaks of low pathogenic AI (H9N2) viral infections leading to decreased egg production and increased mortality have been reported on commercial farms since 1996, resulting in severe economic losses. To control the H9N2 LPAI endemic, the Korea Veterinary Authority has permitted the use of the inactivated H9N2 LPAI vaccine since 2007. In this study, we developed a killed vaccine using a low pathogenic H9N2 AI virus (A/chicken/Korea/ADL0401) and conducted safety and efficacy tests in commercial layer farms while focusing on analysis of factors that cause losses to farms, including egg production rate, egg abnormality, and feed efficiency. The egg production rate of the control group declined dramatically 5 days after the challenge. There were no changes in feed consumption of all three groups before the challenge, but rates of the control declined afterward. Clinical signs in the vaccinated groups were similar, and a slight decline in feed consumption was observed after challenge; however, this returned to normal more rapidly than the control group and commercial layers. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the safety and efficacy of the vaccine are adequate to provide protection against the AI field infection (H9N2) epidemic in Korea.
Animals ; Chickens ; Emulsions ; Female ; Influenza A Virus, H9N2 Subtype/*immunology ; Influenza Vaccines/*immunology/*standards ; Influenza in Birds/immunology/prevention & control ; Oviparity ; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms ; Vaccines, Inactivated/immunology

The present study describes the development of DNA vaccines using the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and fusion (F) genes from AF2240 Newcastle disease virus strain, namely pIRES/HN, pIRES/F and pIRES-F/HN. Transient expression analysis of the constructs in Vero cells revealed the successful expression of gene inserts in vitro. Moreover, in vivo experiments showed that single vaccination with the constructed plasmid DNA (pDNA) followed by a boost with inactivated vaccine induced a significant difference in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay antibody levels (p < 0.05) elicited by either pIRES/F, pIRES/F+ pIRES/HN or pIRES-F/HN at one week after the booster in specific pathogen free chickens when compared with the inactivated vaccine alone. Taken together, these results indicated that recombinant pDNA could be used to increase the efficacy of the inactivated vaccine immunization procedure.
Animals ; Antibodies, Viral/blood ; Cercopithecus aethiops ; Chickens ; *HN Protein/genetics/immunology ; Immunogenicity, Vaccine/*immunology ; Newcastle Disease/immunology ; Newcastle disease virus/enzymology/*genetics/immunology ; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms ; Vaccines, DNA/genetics/*immunology ; Vaccines, Inactivated/immunology ; Vero Cells ; *Viral Fusion Proteins/genetics/immunology ; Viral Vaccines/genetics/*immunology/*standards

The incidence rate of cervical cancer in Korea is still higher than in other developed countries, notwithstanding the national mass-screening program. Furthermore, a new method has been introduced in cervical cancer screening. Therefore, the committee for cervical cancer screening in Korea updated the recommendation statement established in 2002. The new version of the guideline was developed by the committee using evidence-based methods. The committee reviewed the evidence for the benefits and harms of the Papanicolaou test, liquid-based cytology, and human papillomavirus (HPV) testing, and reached conclusions after deliberation. The committee recommends screening for cervical cancer with cytology (Papanicolaou test or liquid-based cytology) every three years in women older than 20 years of age (recommendation A). The cervical cytology combined with HPV test is optionally recommended after taking into consideration individual risk or preference (recommendation C). The current evidence for primary HPV screening is insufficient to assess the benefits and harms of cervical cancer screening (recommendation I). Cervical cancer screening can be terminated at the age of 74 years if more than three consecutive negative cytology reports have been confirmed within 10 years (recommendation D).
Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Early Detection of Cancer/adverse effects/*methods/standards ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; False Positive Reactions ; Female ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Middle Aged ; Papillomavirus Infections/diagnosis ; Papillomavirus Vaccines ; Patient Selection ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic/diagnosis ; Republic of Korea ; Review Literature as Topic ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms/*diagnosis ; Vaginal Smears/adverse effects/methods/standards ; Young Adult

No abstract available.
Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use ; Cross Infection/diagnosis/*prevention & control/transmission/virology ; Evidence-Based Medicine/standards ; Humans ; Infection Control/*standards ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional/prevention & control ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Professional-to-Patient/prevention & control ; Influenza Vaccines/*administration & dosage ; Influenza, Human/diagnosis/*prevention & control/transmission/virology ; Occupational Health Services/*standards ; Risk Factors ; *Seasons ; Vaccination/*standards

OBJECTIVES: Although vaccination rates have increased, problems still remain in the storage and handling of vaccines. This study focused on inspecting actual vaccine storage status and awareness, and comparing them before and after education was provided. METHODS: In the primary inspection, a status survey checklist was completed by visual inspection. A questionnaire on the awareness of proper vaccine storage and handling was also administered to vaccine administrators in private medical institutions in 4 regions in Gyeongsangbuk-province. One-on-one education was then carried out, and our self-produced manual on safe vaccine storage and management methods was provided. In the secondary inspection, the investigators visited the same medical institutions and used the same questionnaire and checklist used during the primary inspection. The results before and after education were compared, by treating each appropriate answer as 1 point. RESULTS: The average checklists score was 9.74 (out of 15 points), which increased significantly after education was provided (by 0.84, p<0.001). The participants demonstrated improved practices in recording storage temperatures (p=0.016), storing vaccines in the center of the refrigerator (p=0.004), storing vaccines with other medication and non-medical items (p=0.031) after education. The average score calculated from the questionnaires was 10.48 (out of 14 points), which increased after education (by 1.03, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that vaccine storage practices and awareness are inadequate, but can be partially improved by providing relevant education. Repetitive education and policy-making are required to store vaccines safely because one-off education and unenforced guidelines offer limited efficacy.
Adult ; Drug Storage/*standards/statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Guideline Adherence/statistics & numerical data ; Health Facilities, Proprietary/*standards/statistics & numerical data ; *Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Health Personnel/*education ; Humans ; Inservice Training ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea ; Vaccines/*standards ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: This study was done to evaluated the effects of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination education on college women's knowledge of HPV, health beliefs (perceived severity and perceived susceptibility), and preventive behavior intention. METHODS: A nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design with repeated measures was used. Participants were 125 female college students in one university, assigned to an experimental group (72 students) and control group (53 students). RESULTS: Two weeks after the intervention, the experimental group reported higher scores of knowledge, perceived severity, perceived susceptibility, and preventive behavior intention than the control group. All follow-up scores except intention measured at 5 weeks after the intervention from the experimental group remained still higher than those from the control group. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the variable of preventive behavior intention which is believed to be the closest predictor of real vaccination rate could be affected by the education, but did not remain at the same level at 5 weeks. Therefore, additional interventions may need to be provided before the educational effect on preventive behavior intention is greatly diminished.
*Attitude to Health ; Female ; *Health Behavior ; *Health Education/standards ; Health Status ; Humans ; Intention ; Knowledge ; Papillomavirus Infections/*prevention & control ; Papillomavirus Vaccines/*therapeutic use ; Program Evaluation ; Questionnaires ; Students/*psychology ; Universities ; Vaccination ; Young Adult

The 23 open reading frame (ORF) 5 sequences of Korean type II porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) were collected from viremic sera from the (modified live vaccine) MLV-vaccinating and non-vaccinating farms from 2007 to 2008. The samples were phylogenetically analyzed with previous ORF5 sequences, including type I Korean PRRSV, and previously reported or collected sequences from 1997 to 2008. A MN184-like subgroup of type II Korean PRRSV was newly identified in the viremic sera collected from 2007 to 2008. And of the type I PRRSVs, one subgroup had 87.2~88.9% similarity with the Lelystad virus, showing a close relationship with the 27~2003 strain of Spain. The maximum parsimony tree of type II PRRSV from 1997 to 2008 showed that they had evolved to four lineages, subgroups 1, 2, 3 and 4. Most of the recently collected type II PRRSVs belonged to subgroup 4 (48%). The region of three B-cell epitopes and two T-cell epitopes of ORF5 amino acids sequences was considerably different from the MLV in subgroups 3 and 4. In conclusion, the existence of type I PRRSV, which was genetically different from Lelystad virus (Prototype of type I PRRSV), and heterologous type II PRRSVs of viremic pigs detected even in the MLV-vaccinating farms indicated the need for new vaccine approaches for the control of PRRSV in Korea.
Animals ; Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte/immunology ; Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte/immunology ; Evolution, Molecular ; Korea ; *Open Reading Frames ; Phylogeny ; Pilot Projects ; Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome/blood/genetics/immunology/*virology ; Porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome virus/*genetics/immunology ; RNA, Viral/chemistry/genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction/veterinary ; Swine ; Viral Vaccines/immunology/standards ; Viremia/genetics/immunology/virology

Immunizing animals in the wild against Brucella (B.) abortus is essential to control bovine brucellosis because cattle can get the disease through close contact with infected wildlife. The aim of this experiment was to evaluate the effectiveness of the B. abortus strain RB51 vaccine in protecting infection as well as vertical transmission in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats against B. abortus biotype 1. Virgin female SD rats (n = 48) two months of age were divided into two groups: one group (n = 24) received RB51 vaccine intraperitoneally with 3 x 10(10) colony forming units (CFU) and the other group (n = 24) was used as non-vaccinated control. Non-vaccinated and RB51-vaccinated rats were challenged with 1.5 x 10(9) CFU of virulent B. abortus biotype 1 six weeks after vaccination. Three weeks after challenge, all rats were bred. Verification of RB51-vaccine induced protection in SD rats was determined by bacteriological, serological and molecular screening of maternal and fetal tissues at necropsy. The RB51 vaccine elicited 81.25% protection in SD rats against infection with B. abortus biotype 1. Offspring from rats vaccinated with RB51 had a decreased (p < 0.05) prevalence of vertical transmission of B. abortus biotype 1 compared to the offspring from non-vaccinated rats (20.23% and 87.50%, respectively). This is the first report of RB51 vaccination efficacy against the vertical transmission of B. abortus in the SD rat model.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial/blood ; Bacterial Vaccines/immunology/*standards ; Birth Weight ; Brucella abortus/immunology/isolation & purification/*physiology ; Brucellosis/immunology/microbiology/*prevention & control/*transmission ; Female ; Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/*prevention & control ; Litter Size ; Male ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Rate ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Survival Analysis