Avian H5N1 influenza viruses are circulating widely in cattle and other mammals and pose a risk for a human pandemic. Previous studies suggest that older humans are more resistant to H5N1 infections due to childhood imprinting with other group 1 viruses (H1N1 and H2N2); however, the immunological basis for this is incompletely understood. Here we show that antibody titers to historical and recent H5N1 strains are highest in older individuals and correlate more strongly with year of birth than with age, consistent with immune imprinting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Studies have reported that repeated annual vaccination may influence influenza vaccination effectiveness in the current season.
Methods: We established a 5-year randomized placebo-controlled trial of repeated influenza vaccination (Flublok; Sanofi Pasteur) in adults 18-45 years of age. In the first 2 years, participants were randomized to receive vaccine or saline placebo as follows: placebo-placebo (P-P), placebo-vaccine (P-V), or vaccine-vaccine (V-V).
Chronic wounds are a common and costly complication of diabetes, where multifactorial defects contribute to dysregulated skin repair, inflammation, tissue damage, and infection. We previously showed that aspects of the diabetic foot ulcer microbiota were correlated with poor healing outcomes, but many microbial species recovered remain uninvestigated with respect to wound healing. Here, we focused on , a Gram-negative bacterium that is frequently recovered from chronic wounds but rarely causes infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFH5 influenza is a potential pandemic threat. Previous studies have identified molecular phenotypes of the viral hemagglutinin (HA) protein that contribute to pandemic risk, including cell entry, receptor preference, HA stability, and reduced neutralization by polyclonal sera. Here we use pseudovirus deep mutational scanning to measure how all mutations to a clade 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Studies have reported that repeated annual vaccination may influence the effectiveness of the influenza vaccination in the current season. The mechanisms underlying these differences are unclear but might include "focusing" of the adaptive immune response to older strains.
Methods: We established a 5-year randomized placebo-controlled trial of repeated influenza vaccination (Flublok, Sanofi Pasteur) in adults 18-45 years of age.
Chronic wounds are a common and costly complication of diabetes, where multifactorial defects contribute to dysregulated skin repair, inflammation, tissue damage, and infection. We previously showed that aspects of the diabetic foot ulcer microbiota were correlated with poor healing outcomes, but many microbial species recovered remain uninvestigated with respect to wound healing. Here we focused on , a Gram-negative bacterium that is frequently recovered from chronic wounds but rarely causes infection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfluenza viruses circulated at very low levels during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and population immunity against these viruses is low. An H3N2 strain (3C.2a1b.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVaccine-mediated immunity often relies on the generation of protective antibodies and memory B cells, which commonly stem from germinal center (GC) reactions. An in-depth comparison of the GC responses elicited by SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in healthy and immunocompromised individuals has not yet been performed due to the challenge of directly probing human lymph nodes. Herein, through a fine-needle aspiration-based approach, we profiled the immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccines in lymph nodes of healthy individuals and kidney transplant recipients (KTXs).
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