Publications by authors named "R Halkerston"
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the safety and immunogenicity of a TdaP vaccine for pregnant women living with HIV, aiming to protect infants from severe pertussis disease.
- Conducted in Uganda, the trial randomly assigned 181 women (HIV-positive and HIV-negative) to receive either the TdaP or Td vaccine, evaluating immune responses in infants post-delivery.
- Findings will provide valuable insights into the vaccine's effectiveness and safety for this specific population, contributing to better health outcomes for mothers and their babies.
The development of new therapies against SARS-CoV-2 is required to extend the toolkit of intervention strategies to combat the global pandemic. In this study, hyperimmune plasma from sheep immunised with whole spike SARS-CoV-2 recombinant protein has been used to generate candidate products. In addition to purified IgG, we have refined candidate therapies by removing non-specific IgG via affinity binding along with fragmentation to eliminate the Fc region to create F(ab') fragments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntibodies against SARS-CoV-2 are important to generate protective immunity, with convalescent plasma one of the first therapies approved. An alternative source of polyclonal antibodies suitable for upscaling would be more amendable to regulatory approval and widespread use. In this study, sheep were immunised with SARS-CoV-2 whole spike protein or one of the subunit proteins: S1 and S2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- A study was conducted on UK healthcare workers from April to June 2020 to explore how acquired immunity to COVID-19 develops, particularly before vaccines were available.
- The researchers found that immune responses to the virus varied widely among participants, with some immune markers decreasing over time while others remained stable.
- A subgroup of individuals displayed stronger immune responses, which correlated with long-term protection against severe disease from COVID-19 and its variants.