Rapid detection of respiratory syncytial virus in nasopharyngeal secretions by immunofluorescence and ELISA does not justify discontinuation of virus isolation.

Direct fluorescent antibody assay (DFA) using monoclonal antibody and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for rapid detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in nasopharyngeal secretions (NPS) were compared with conventional virus isolation and identification procedures in cell cultures. When 134 NPS were examined from infants and young children with acute respiratory tract infection, 42 (31%) were culture-positive for RSV and 31 of these were detected by the appearance of a typical cytopathic effect and identified by DFA either before or after its appearance, whereas 11 were identified as RSV-positive by DFA performed blindly on HEp-2 cell cultures 5 or 10 days after inoculation. DFA for RSV on NPS smears was positive in 33 (26%) cases, from seven of which RSV was not isolated.

Efficacy of minimal doses of an American hepatitis B vaccine in neonates.

Eight neonates and three young children at risk for hepatitis B infection were vaccinated with minimal doses of inactivated hepatitis B vaccine. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of low doses with a view toward reducing the cost of immunization and therefore extending the practice to a larger number of subjects and minimizing the incidence of adverse reactions to the vaccine. The patients received two intramuscular injections (0.

RIA evaluation of antibody levels in neonates from HBsAg-positive mothers after active, passive, and combined immunoprophylaxis.

We evaluated the anti-HBs titers in 20 babies born to HBsAg-positive mothers and receiving different programs designed to prevent hepatitis B. Passive prophylaxis by HBIG for 6 months assured detectable antibody levels in the same period. 3 months after the last injection we could detect antibodies in 5 out of 9 cases.