[Rubella immunity in Japanese women of childbearing age, 2008-2013: commercial diagnostic laboratory data analysis].

Background: For effective non-routine vaccination in women of childbearing age as a countermeasure against congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), it is important to know the specific age group in which fewer members have rubella immunity.

Methods: We analyzed rubella hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody data (about 890,000) accumulated from 2008 through 2013 at a commercial diagnostic laboratory, which originated from the serum specimens sent mainly from obstetrics & gynecology clinics and hospital departments in Japan. Changes during the above period in the pattern of the annual curve for the prevalence of rubella antibodies (HI antibody titer > or = 8) by age, were observed.

Measurement of cough-wind pressure: masks for mitigating an influenza pandemic.

To assess the degree to which face masks reduce the strength of cough-wind, we measured the wind pressure in front of the mouth with and without the wearing of masks. We found that any conventional masks made from paper, cotton gauze, or non-woven fabrics reduced the wind pressure to less than one-tenth that recorded when no mask was worn.

[Rubella immunity in Japanese women 20- 39-years-old, 1999-2007: commercial diagnostic laboratory data analysis].

We analyzed rubella antibody data from hemagglutination-inhibition tests on 600,000 serum specimens from Japanese women 20- 39-years-old. Specimens had been sent by gynecology clinics nationwide to a commercial diagnostic laboratory from 1999 through 2007. Antibody-positive percentages in women in their 20s to mid 30s in 1999 to 2001 were 95%, while those in women in their early 20s from 2002 to 2007 were lower at 88% among 20-year-olds in 2002 born in 1982 and 86% among those in 2007 born in 1987.

[2007 measles outbreaks among Tokyo youths: analysis of data on serum IgM antibody detection at a commercial diagnostic laboratory].

We analyzed data on measles-specific serum IgM detection at a commercial diagnostic laboratory in outbreaks among youths in the greater Tokyo area in 2007. Trends in monthly numbers of IgM antibody-positive specimens from persons aged > or =15 or <15 years from January 2000 to June 2007 corresponded well to weekly numbers of adult or pediatric patients per sentinel hospital or clinic as reported by the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases (NESID). In 2007, the number of IgM-positive specimens greatly increased, mainly peaking at ages 0-1 and 18-30 years.

[Detection of IgM antibody to Epstein-Barr virus, 1999-2006: analysis of data collected at a commercial diagnostic laboratory in Japan].

The status of infectious mononucleosis in Japanese youth has been little studied. To gain more information, we analyzed data from tests for Epstein-Barr virus-specific IgM in about 180,000 serum specimens sent to a commercial diagnostic laboratory from clinics nationwide between 1999 and 2006. The IgM antibody to the viral capsid antigen (VCA) was assayed by indirect immunofluorescence with P3HR-1 cells.

[IgM antibody detection in acute viral diseases, 1995-2004: analysis of data collected at a commercial diagnostic laboratory in Japan].

We analyzed data from tests for virus-specific IgM in 376,000 serum specimens sent to a commercial diagnostic laboratory from clinics nationwide between 1995 and 2004. IgM antibodies to measles, rubella, mumps, parvo B19, and varicella-zoster viruses were tested using IgM-capture ELISA kits. Among specimens, 254,000 (68%) had documentation of age, of which 56% were sera from persons<20 and 44%> or = 20 years of age.

Masks for influenza patients: measurement of airflow from the mouth.

In case of a new influenza pandemic, provision of masks to coughing patients could be used to slow expansion of the epidemic. To quantitatively assess the efficacy of different masks, we used an ultrasonic anemometer to measure the velocity of airflow from the mouth in coughing. We found that even the cheapest paper masks reduced the air speed to less than 1/10, implicating their effectiveness in decreasing viral spread.

Bacillus anthracis incident, Kameido, Tokyo, 1993.

In July 1993, a liquid suspension of was aerosolized from the roof of an eight-story building in Kameido, Tokyo, Japan, by the religious group Aum Shinrikyo. During 1999 to 2001, microbiologic tests were conducted on a liquid environmental sample originally collected during the 1993 incident. Nonencapsulated isolates of were cultured from the liquid.

Isolation and characterization of cDNAs that encode homologs of a pathogenesis-related protein allergen from Cryptomeria japonica.

Many plant pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins are allergenic. We isolated three cDNAs, Cry j 3.1, Cry j 3.

Three T-cell determinants of Cry j 1 and Cry j 2, the major Japanese cedar pollen antigens, retain their immunogenicity and tolerogenicity in a linked peptide.

It has been demonstrated in detail that administration of a dominant T-cell determinant to animals induces activation or immunological tolerance of T cells. However, it has not been determined whether multiple T-cell determinants, when integrated into a single peptide, retain their potential to induce T-cell activation and tolerance. We prepared a synthetic peptide comprising three T-cell determinants of Cry j 1 and Cry j 2, the major Japanese cedar pollen antigens, and investigated the immunogenicity and tolerogenicity of each T-cell determinant in the linked peptide by means of lymph node cell proliferation assays using mice.

Analysis of the major epitope of the alpha2 chain of bovine type I collagen in children with bovine gelatin allergy.

Background: Anaphylaxis to measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines has been reported. It has been found that most of these reactions to live vaccines are caused by type I allergy with the bovine gelatin present in the vaccines as an allergen. Gelatin mainly includes denatured type I collagen, which consists of alpha1 and alpha2 chains.

DNA vaccine using invariant chain gene for delivery of CD4+ T cell epitope peptide derived from Japanese cedar pollen allergen inhibits allergen-specific IgE response.

To establish a new immunotherapy for type I allergic diseases without allergic side effects, we attempted to develop a DNA vaccine encoding both a CD4+ T cell epitope site in a major Japanese cedar pollen allergen (Cry j 2) and an invariant chain (Ii) for the delivery of the epitope peptide into the MHC class II loading pathway. We constructed a plasmid DNA encoding the Ii mutant either by replacement of the core CLIP (class II-associated invariant chain peptide) with a peptide corresponding to the major Cry j 2 CD4+ T cell epitope in BALB/c mice, designated as p247-258 (pCPCJ2), or by fusion of the Ii with p247-258 at the C terminus (pIiCJ2). As expected, repeated inoculation of BALB/c mice with pCPCJ2 or pIiCJ2 induced no antibody response to Cry j 2.