Age-related efficacy of Shigella O-specific polysaccharide conjugates in 1-4-year-old Israeli children.

Background: Despite its high worldwide morbidity and mortality, there is yet no licensed vaccine for shigellosis. We reported the safety and immunogenicity of Shigella O-specific polysaccharide-protein conjugates in adults and young children and efficacy of Shigella sonnei conjugate in young adults.

Methods: A double-blinded, randomized and vaccine-controlled Phase 3 evaluation of S.

The effect of active immunization on varicella-related hospitalizations in Israel.

The purpose of this study is to report on the impact of introduction of the varicella vaccine "Varilix" on hospitalizations due to varicella, following licensure in Israel in June, 2000. Data on children hospitalized throughout Israel with the diagnosis of varicella were collected from 1998 until 2003. The national rate of varicella-related hospitalizations decreased during the period 2001-2002.

O-specific [corrected] polysaccharide conjugate vaccine-induced [corrected] antibodies prevent invasion of Shigella into Caco-2 cells and may be curative.

The O-specific polysaccharide (O-SP) domain of Shigella LPS is both an essential virulence factor and a protective antigen for this genus. A critical level of serum IgG anti-O-SP was shown to confer immunity to shigellosis, likely by complement-mediated bacteriolysis of the inoculum. Conjugate Shigella O-SP vaccines were shown to be safe and immunogenic in children, and, in a preliminary study, Shigella sonnei vaccine was protective in young adults.

[Vaccines for all occasions].

The strategy of immunizing a population at risk of infectious disease has been enormously successful medically and has also proven to be cost effective. Development of effective immunogens, that induce active immunization, is a long process that requires careful monitoring and assurance of short and long term safety, induction of protective immunity and proven efficacy in preventing the disease. A successful immunization program is also dependent on delivery of the vaccine to as many susceptible individuals as possible, so as to attain herd immunity.

Use of a computerized database to study the effectiveness of an attenuated varicella vaccine.

Background: The varicella vaccine Varilrix (GlaxoSmithKline) was introduced in Israel in June 2000 as an optional vaccination for children.

Methods: We used the database of a single health maintenance organization that serves 25% of the population in Israel to assess the effectiveness of the vaccine retrospectively. Incidence and complications of varicella were derived from the database from January 1, 1998 until December 31, 2002.

Safety and immunogenicity of Shigella sonnei-CRM9 and Shigella flexneri type 2a-rEPAsucc conjugate vaccines in one- to four-year-old children.

Background And Objective: Shigella conjugate vaccines have been shown to be safe, immunogenic and efficacious in adult volunteers. We have now investigated the safety and immunogenicity of investigational Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri 2a conjugate vaccines in 1- to 4-year-old children, the age group at greatest risk for shigellosis.

Methods: The O-specific polysaccharides of S.

Human and porcine early kidney precursors as a new source for transplantation.

Kidney transplantation has been one of the major medical advances of the past 30 years. However, tissue availability remains a major obstacle. This can potentially be overcome by the use of undifferentiated or partially developed kidney precursor cells derived from early embryos and fetal tissue.

Treatment of chronic granulomatous disease with myeloablative conditioning and an unmodified hemopoietic allograft: a survey of the European experience, 1985-2000.

Treatment of chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) with myeloablative bone marrow transplantation is considered risky. This study investigated complications and survival according to different risk factors present at transplantation. The outcomes of 27 transplantations for CGD, from 1985 to 2000, reported to the European Bone Marrow Transplant Registry for primary immunodeficiencies were assessed.

Localized thigh swelling mimicking a neoplastic process: involvement of coxsackie virus type A21.

Unlabelled: A 4-y-old girl was admitted because of a left leg limp with an isolated swollen upper thigh and normal muscle enzymes. A radioisotope scan showed increased uptake especially in the bone and soft tissue of the left thigh, while magnetic resonance imaging of that region demonstrated widespread oedema in striated muscle. On muscle biopsy perivascular infiltrates were demonstrated but muscle fibres were not shown to be affected.

Engraftment and differentiation of human metanephroi into functional mature nephrons after transplantation into mice is accompanied by a profile of gene expression similar to normal human kidney development.

Metanephroi, the embryonic precursors of the adult kidney, can be induced in vivo to grow and develop. Despite their potential clinical utility for transplantation, the ability of human metanephroi to differentiate after transplantation into functional mature nephrons is mostly unknown. To address this, 70-d human metanephroi were transplanted into NOD/SCID mice; global gene expression patterns that underlie development of human metanephric transplants were analyzed and compared with normal human kidney development.

Extrahepatic synthesis of complement proteins in inflammation.

The demonstration of local complement protein synthesis leads to speculation as to the biological significance of this phenomenon. A narrative review is provided to illuminate several queries. It is difficult to establish a causal role for the locally produced complement because participation of systemic complement cannot be excluded.

Safety and immunogenicity of improved Shigella O-specific polysaccharide-protein conjugate vaccines in adults in Israel.

Data suggest that the O-specific polysaccharide (O-SP) domain of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Shigella species is both an essential virulence factor and a protective antigen and that a critical level of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) to this antigen will confer immunity to shigellosis. Because covalent attachment of polysaccharides to proteins increases their immunogenicity, especially in infants and in young children, the O-SP of Shigella species were bound to medically useful proteins, and the safety and immunogenicity of the resultant conjugates were confirmed in adults and 4- to 7-year-old children. Succinylation of the carrier protein improved the immunogenicity of Shigella conjugates in mice and increased their yield.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia in children: analysis of trends in prevalence, antibiotic resistance and prognostic factors.

Objective: To determine the factors predisposing to Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia as well as the prevalence, source of infection, outcome and prognostic factors in pediatric patients.

Methods: Retrospective review of pediatric patients with P. aeruginosa bacteremia, at a large tertiary care hospital during a 6.

In vivo modulation of the allogeneic immune response by human fetal kidneys: the role of cytokines, chemokines, and cytolytic effector molecules.

Background: We have recently demonstrated that human fetal renal tissue, implanted under the kidney capsule of severe immunodeficient rats, escapes early destruction by intraperitoneal infusion of allogeneic human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, compared with the rapid rejection of implants of human adult kidney tissue. Variable amounts of human mononuclear infiltrates were seen in the transplanted fetal kidney, however, prolonged survival of the fetal tissue (maintenance of graft architecture and significant growth) was independent of the cellular infiltrate.

Methods: We have used this experimental model to sequentially analyze transcript levels of interferon-gamma and interleukin (IL)-2 (T helper 1 cytokines), IL-4 and IL-10 (T helper 2 cytokines), RANTES, MIP1beta (beta chemokines) and their receptor CCR5, and Fas ligand (cytolytic effector molecule).

Cellular localization of complement C3 and C4 transcripts in intestinal specimens from patients with Crohn's disease.

It has been suggested that the increase in C3 and C4 levels in jejunal perfusates of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) results from local intestinal synthesis of complement. The present study evaluated the expression of these complement genes in inflamed tissues from patients with CD. Surgically resected specimens from patients with CD and control tissue obtained from subjects with adenocarcinoma of the colon were evaluated for C3 and C4 gene expression by the use of 35S-labelled anti-sense RNA probes.

Modulation of the immune response by fetal kidney allografts.

Fetal kidneys modulate the allogeneic immune response by a synergistic effect: first, fetal kidney tissue tropism is abrogated by the initial relative lack of adhesion molecules. Second, the reduced expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) determinants is less effective in inducing the alloantigen-primed T cell response, which in turn induces the downregulation of Th1 cytokines, beta chemokines, and Fas ligand, but spares protective Th2 cytokines, and leads to minimal induction of MHC and adhesion molecules on immature renal parenchymal elements. Thus, at the onset and during this altered rejection process, cellular recruitment to the fetal renal site is less prominent than to the adult renal tissue, and effector cells in the fetal graft are less activated.

Local complement genes expression in the mammary gland: effect of gestation and inflammation.

Complement components in breast milk may enhance the local immune response in the gut of infants. In this study, we investigated the expression of complement genes in the mammary gland and attempted to determine possible regulatory mechanisms. We have studied the expression of C3, C4, factor B, and HLA-DRalpha mRNA by in situ hybridization in gestational mammary gland specimens and compared these findings to those in breast tissue affected with an inflammatory process, lactating adenoma or idiopathic gynecomastia.

Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and adenopathy syndrome: clinical characteristics and outcome.

We report 28 patients (20 male) with a syndrome characterized by abrupt onset of fever, malaise, aphthous stomatitis, tonsillitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenopathy (PFAPA syndrome). Episodes of fever occurred at intervals of 5.1 +/- 1.

Safety and immunogenicity of Shigella sonnei and Shigella flexneri 2a O-specific polysaccharide conjugates in children.

O-specific polysaccharide conjugates of shigellae were safe and immunogenic in young adults, and a Shigella sonnei conjugate conferred protection [1-3]. Shigellosis is primarily a disease of children; therefore, the safety and immunogenicity of S. sonnei and Shigella flexneri 2a conjugates were studied in 4- to 7-year-old children.