A 5-year look-back at the notification and management of vaccine supply shortages in Germany.

BackgroundUnavailability of vaccines endangers the overall goal to protect individuals and whole populations against infections.MethodsThe German notification system includes the publication of vaccine supply shortages reported by marketing authorisation holders (MAH), information on the availability of alternative vaccine products, guidance for physicians providing vaccinations and an unavailability reporting tool to monitor regional distribution issues.AimThis study provides a retrospective analysis of supply issues and measures in the context of European and global vaccine supply constraints.

Alarmins firing arthritis: Helpful diagnostic tools and promising therapeutic targets.

Alarmins are endogenous molecules with homeostatic roles that have reached the focus of research in inflammatory arthritis in the last two decades, mostly due to their ability to indicate tissue related damage after active or passive release from injured cells. From HMGB1, S100A8/A9 and S100A12 proteins, over heat-shock proteins (HSPs) and purine metabolites (e.g.

CTLA4Fcε, a novel soluble fusion protein that binds B7 molecules and the IgE receptors, and reduces human in vitro soluble CD23 production and lymphocyte proliferation.

Immunoglobulin E-mediated allergy and certain autoimmune diseases are characterized by the presence of a T helper type 2 (Th2) immune response and allergen-specific or self-reactive IgE. Soluble CD23 (sCD23) is a B-cell factor that fosters IgE class-switching and synthesis, suggesting that sCD23 may be a therapeutic target for these pathologies. We produced a recombinant protein, CTLA4Fcε, by fusing the ectodomain of the immunoregulatory molecule cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4) with a fragment of the IgE H-chain constant region.

Pathogen-triggered activation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells induces IL-10-producing B cells in response to Staphylococcus aureus.

Induction of polyclonal B cell activation is a phenomenon observed in many types of infection, but its immunological relevance is unclear. In this study we show that staphylococcal protein A induces T cell-independent human B cell proliferation by enabling uptake of TLR-stimulating nucleic acids via the V(H)3(+) BCR. We further demonstrate that Staphylococcus aureus strains with high surface protein A expression concomitantly trigger activation of human plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC).