Development and applications of universal H7 subtype-specific antibodies for the analysis of influenza H7N9 vaccines.

H7N9 is a newly emerged avian influenza virus with a relatively high mortality rate in humans. At this time, there is no licensed vaccine for human protection. Development of analytical tools for H7N9 vaccine could facilitate vaccine development.

Optimization and qualification of a quantitative reversed-phase HPLC method for hemagglutinin in influenza preparations and its comparative evaluation with biochemical assays.

A previously described reversed-phase HPLC (RP-HPLC) method based on fast separations on a non-porous silica stationary phase [1] was optimized and qualified for the quantitative determination of hemagglutinin (HA) in influenza vaccine preparations. Optimization of the gradient elution conditions led to improved separation of the HA1 subunit from other vaccine constituents. The sensitivity of the method was significantly increased by using native fluorescence detection, resulting in an approximately 10-fold increase as compared to UV-vis detection.

Yellow fever vaccine induces integrated multilineage and polyfunctional immune responses.

Correlates of immune-mediated protection to most viral and cancer vaccines are still unknown. This impedes the development of novel vaccines to incurable diseases such as HIV and cancer. In this study, we have used functional genomics and polychromatic flow cytometry to define the signature of the immune response to the yellow fever (YF) vaccine 17D (YF17D) in a cohort of 40 volunteers followed for up to 1 yr after vaccination.

Standardization of cytokine flow cytometry assays.

Background: Cytokine flow cytometry (CFC) or intracellular cytokine staining (ICS) can quantitate antigen-specific T cell responses in settings such as experimental vaccination. Standardization of ICS among laboratories performing vaccine studies would provide a common platform by which to compare the immunogenicity of different vaccine candidates across multiple international organizations conducting clinical trials. As such, a study was carried out among several laboratories involved in HIV clinical trials, to define the inter-lab precision of ICS using various sample types, and using a common protocol for each experiment (see additional files online).

Vaccines in the public eye.

Preventive vaccines are widely acknowledged as the best hope for protection against infectious pathogens such as avian flu, HIV and SARS. As a result, they have received much recent attention in the media that has exposed some of the challenges involved in optimally using vaccine technology.

A Canadian national survey of attitudes and knowledge regarding preventive vaccines.

BACKGROUND: Vaccines have virtually eliminated many diseases, but public concerns about their safety could undermine future public health initiatives. OBJECTIVE: To determine Canadians' attitudes and knowledge about vaccines, particularly in view of increasing public concern about bioterrorism and the possible need for emergency immunizations after weaponized anthrax incidents and the events of September 11, 2001. METHOD: A 20-question survey based on well-researched dimensions of vaccine responsiveness was telephone-administered to a random sample of N = 1330 adult Canadians in January, 2002.