X-ray as Irradiation Alternative for K562 Feeder Cell Inactivation in Human Natural Killer Cell Expansion.

Background/aim: γ-Irradiation has been proven to be the most effective method to inactivate K562 cells, but γ-irradiators are not available in some institutes. This study was designed to compare the effects of X-ray and γ-irradiation on K562 cells in natural killer (NK) cell expansion.

Materials And Methods: To expand NK cells, isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were co-cultured with γ-irradiated or X-ray-treated K562 cells plus IL-2 and IL-15.

Assessing evidence for avian-to-human transmission of influenza A/H9N2 virus in rural farming communities in northern Vietnam.

Rural farming communities in northern Vietnam do not routinely practice vaccination for influenza A viruses (IAV) for either humans or poultry, which enables us to study transmission intensity via seroepidemiology. Using samples from a longitudinal cohort of farming households, we determined the number of symptomatic and asymptomatic human infections for seasonal IAV and avian A/H9 over 2 years. As expected, we detected virologically confirmed acute cases of seasonal IAV in humans, as well as large numbers of subclinical seroconversions to A/H1pdm [55/265 (21 %)], A/H3 [95/265 (36 %)] and A/H9 [24/265 (9 %)].