Tuftsin-AZT conjugate: potential macrophage targeting for AIDS therapy.

The IgG-derived immunomodulating peptide tuftsin, Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg, is recognized by specific receptors on phagocytic cells, notably macrophages, and is capable of targeting proteins and peptides to these sites. Aiming to target 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) to HIV-infected macrophages, a conjugate of AZT with tuftsin was synthesized. The AZT-tuftsin chimera possesses the characteristic capacities of its two components.

Resolution of the pathways of poliovirus type 1 transmission during an outbreak.

An outbreak of poliomyelitis with 20 cases occurred in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank from October 1987 to October 1988. The wild type 1 poliovirus associated with the outbreak was most closely related to viruses found in the Nile Delta. The epidemiologic links among patients involved in the outbreak and patients with community-acquired infections during the outbreak were inferred from the evolutionary relationships among isolates of the outbreak virus.

Detection of poliovirus circulation by environmental surveillance in the absence of clinical cases in Israel and the Palestinian authority.

The global eradication of poliomyelitis, believed to be achievable around the year 2000, relies on strategies which include high routine immunization coverage and mass vaccination campaigns, along with continuous monitoring of wild-type virus circulation by using the laboratory-based acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance. Israel and the Palestinian Authority are located in a geographical region in which poliovirus is still endemic but have been free of poliomyelitis since 1988 as a result of intensive immunization programs and mass vaccination campaigns. To monitor the wild-type virus circulation, environmental surveillance of sewage samples collected monthly from 25 to 30 sites across the country was implemented in 1989 and AFP surveillance began in 1994.

The immunomodulator AS101 restores T(H1) type of response suppressed by Babesia rodhaini in BALB/c mice.

The immunomodulator AS101 has been previously shown to confer protection upon BALB/c mice infected with the intraerythrocytic parasite Babesia rodhaini (B. rodhaini). The present study focuses on the effect of AS101 administration on the acute phase of babesial infection where T helper cell subset patterns-TH1/TH2-were assessed in heavily infected mice.

Identification of a new strain of fastidious enterovirus 70 as the causative agent of an outbreak of hemorrhagic conjunctivitis.

A 1994 outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in Israel was caused by an enterovirus 70 strain that was distinct from previously reported strains. Characterization was by electron microscopy (eye washes), reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR; eyewash, specimens, eye swabs, and tears), and sequence analysis of RT-PCR-amplified fragments from the 5' noncoding region and VP1.