Immunogenicity and safety of a pediatric dose of a virosome-adjuvanted hepatitis A vaccine: a controlled trial in children aged 1-16 years.

Background: The availability of pediatric formulations of hepatitis A virus (HAV) vaccines would facilitate the introduction of universal mass vaccination against HAV. The objective of this study was to compare a pediatric dose (0.25 mL) of Epaxal, a virosomal, aluminum-free HAV vaccine, to 0.

Isolate KAV: a new genotype of the TT-virus family.

A novel DNA sequence belonging to a new genotype of TT virus (TTV) was detected by long-distance PCR in the serum of a chronically HCV-infected patient. The isolate was designated KAV according to the patient's initials. Extending the sequence to full length revealed a 3705-nt viral genome, which is about 100 nucleotides shorter than the other TT-viruses.

[Detection of antibodies to the nucleocapsid protein of Hepatitis C virus by immunoenzyme analysis using synthetic peptides of nucleocapsid N-terminal part].

Solid-phase synthesis of 7 linear peptides overlapping the immunodominant N-terminal region of hepatitis C virus (HCV) core protein (aa 7-75) was carried out. Their antigen reactivity was studied by non-competitive ELISA with sera from patients with chronic HCV infection. Three B-epitopes located within aa 7-19, 20-34, and 39-75 appeared to be the most immunoreactive.

The natural course of hepatitis C virus infection 18 years after an epidemic outbreak of non-A, non-B hepatitis in a plasmapheresis centre.

Background: The natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is variable and factors determining the course of the illness are unclear.

Aims: To determine the natural course of HCV infection in a well characterised group of patients 18 years after an epidemic outbreak of non-A, non-B hepatitis at a plasmapheresis centre.

Methods: Between 1994 and 1996, 20 of 30 affected individuals were studied.

Thunderclap headache caused by Erve virus?

Systematic studies of a possible human neuropathogenicity of the Erve virus have not yet been carried out. In a randomized, blind study 166 patients with viral encephalitis, 46 patients with cerebral hemorrhage, 72 patients with "thunderclap" headache, and 205 healthy blood donors were examined by indirect immunofluorescence for Erve virus antibodies. None of the patients with encephalitis, two patients with cerebral hemorrhage (4.