[The relationship of the intensity of antibody formation to the causative agents of diphtheria and tetanus to genetic markers in children vaccinated with adsorbed DPT].

The examination of 99 children immunized with adsorbed DPT vaccine revealed that the intensity of immune response to the diphtheria and tetanus components of the preparation were linked with a number of genetic markers (respectively, HLA-A9, B35, etc.; HLA-A25, B8, etc.) and their combinations.

[Chromosome aberration levels and their dynamics during the treatment with cytotoxic preparations of patients with primary and lupus glomerulonephritis].

As many as 96 patients with chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) and 25 with lupus glomerulonephritis (LGN) were examined for chromosomal aberrations (CA) in peripheral blood lymphocytes in different clinical variants and morphological forms of CGN and LGN as well as for their dynamics under the influence of cytotoxic drugs. In patients with active CGN and LGN, chromosomal instability may develop. The treatment with cyclophosphamide in a dose of 2.

[Chromosome aberrations in chronic and lupus glomerulonephritis ].

The levels of aberration of chromosomes in peripheral blood leucocytes were investigated in patients with chronic and lupoid glomerulonephritis considering the clinical variants and morphological forms of the disease. In chronic glomerulonephritis high levels of chromosome aberration were found in patients with nephrotic type; in lupoid glomerulonephritis the frequency of chromosome aberration was higher in patients with active glomerulonephritis. Chronic renal failure did not essentially change the level of chromosome aberration both in chronic and lupoid glomerulonephritis.

[The results of multiyear observations on the duration of the maintenance of immunity in those vaccinated and revaccinated against and recovered from measles].

The results of 5-year observations on the duration of immunity to measles virus in persons vaccinated and revaccinated against measles, as well as in persons having had this infection, are presented. The intensity of immunity was determined in the same persons with the use of the passive hemagglutination test. The study revealed differences in the formation, intensity and duration of postvaccinal immunity.

[The value of determining antibodies to DNA in patients with purulent diseases of the lungs].

Anti-DNA antibody titers are elevated in the patients with purulent diseases of the lungs and antibodies to nDNA appear that are undetectable in normal subjects. These data correlate with the inflammatory process activity in the lungs, with the diameter of the decayed cavity, disease duration, and efficacy of therapy. Dynamic titration of antibodies to DNA (particularly nDNA) over the course of the disease appears to be an important prognostic test reflecting the stability of autoimmune impairments and the efficacy of the therapeutic scheme used in the treatment of patients with purulent diseases of the lungs.

[Levamisole and splenin in combined therapy of patients with bronchiectasis].

Follow-up of 114 patients with bronchiectasis has demonstrated that immunomodulation agents levamisole and splenin included in combined treatment augment their therapeutic effect and normalize the immune status of patients. This is manifested by normalization of the amount and functional activity to T-lymphocytes, the content of IgG, IgM and IgA and the autoimmune shifts. A favourable effect was encountered significantly more often than that in patient who were treated by the traditional methods without the use of the immunomodulation agents and in those who were given only levamisole and splenin together with anti-bacterial and hygienic therapy.

[Comparative characteristics of immunologic indices in patients with lung abscesses and viral hepatitis].

A study of the immunological status in 52 patients with acute and 20 patients with chronic abscesses of the lungs, 86 patients with viral hepatitis revealed disorders of the immunological reactivity of a quantitative character with monotypic immune response. In autoimmune disorders it is necessary to carry out immunocorrection. In chronic forms immunocorrection should be considered the main treatment method.

[Epidemiological and immunological features of tetanus under conditions of long-term planned vaccine prophylaxis].

The introduction of mass immunization against tetanus has resulted in the decrease of morbidity rate (5.2 times), the leveling of morbidity rate among the urban and rural population and among males and females, though no essential effect on the seasonal distribution of tetanus morbidity has been observed. Persons over 50 years of age (housewives and pensioners) have become the main groups of risk at the post-immunization period.

[Effectiveness of immunizing donors with adsorbed tetanus anatoxin in relation to their genetic markers].

Blood groups, including rhesus grouping, have been determined in 218 donors and HLA of loci A, B, C in 121 donors immunized with adsorbed tetanus toxoid (40 binding units). The presence of HLA Aw 32, B 8; HLA Bw 16, haplotypes A3 Bw 16 and A1, blank antigens of locus C is linked with the production of, respectively, high or low (less than or equal to 16 I.U.

[Effectiveness of measles immunoprophylaxis and the criteria for assessing its possible elimination].

The study of measles morbidity in Donetsk Province in 1960-1984 and the study of antimeasles immunity in different groups of the population have shown that the problem of the liquidation of measles cannot be solved by immunizing the population in a single administration of the vaccine. To enhance the effectiveness of the immunoprophylaxis of measles and its influence on the epidemic process, a number of problems must be solved with the aim to improve the quality of the vaccine, especially its thermal stability, to establish the possibility of shifting the beginning of immunization from 15-17 months to 12 months of age, to increase the coverage of children with immunization against measles by decreasing the number of groundless exemptions from immunization and by immunizing children in risk groups according to individual schedules and dosage, to carry out selectively the booster immunization of persons who have lost their postvaccinal immunity, as revealed by laboratory test, or in whom such loss may be supposed, to introduce the objective method (indirect hemagglutination test) for controlling the state of immunity among different groups of the population into laboratory practice at sanitary and epidemiological stations. As to the possibility of the liquidation of measles, the statement of this problem is correct, but for its solution a complex of additional prophylactic and epidemic-control measures should be taken.

[Experience with the methodological guidance of the on-the-job training of epidemiology graduates].

Seven-year experience in the methodological guidance of the post-graduate specialization of medical graduates specializing in epidemiology has made it possible for the authors to come to the conclusion on the positive role of the on-the-job training of young specialists for a year after graduation, which is manifested by a shorter time necessary for their professional formation, the development of their capacity for making scientifically grounded, active solutions of practical problems. At the same time some defects, difficulties, and unsolved problems of on-the-job training have been revealed. The authors propose to organize internship also for this category of medical specialists and to carry out the specialization of all sanitary inspectors on the basis of "clinical" sanitary and epidemiological stations.

[Epidemiological and immunological criteria of the effectiveness of immunization with adsorbed DPT vaccine by the old and new schedules].

The study revealed that the immunization of children with adsorbed DPT vaccine from the age of 3-4 months, as compared with the immunization of children from the age of 5-6 months, did not lead to an essential increase in the coverage of children with immunization at the period under study (1970-1983) and did not affect the total level of pertussis morbidity, as well as the proportion of children aged up to 1 year in the total number of pertussis cases. Children immunized at an early age produced antibodies in titers, equivalent to the titers in older children, but their immunity against pertussis, in contrast to their immunity against diphtheria and tetanus, was retained for a shorter period. The injection of adsorbed DPT vaccine at the age of 3-4 months was accompanied by a poorly pronounced increase in the content of IgG, the predominant synthesis of IgM and the suppression of the synthesis of IgA.

[Immunological reactivity of patients with suppurative lung diseases and the effectiveness of immunocorrective therapy].

Patients with acute lung abscesses and bronchiectatic diseases manifested deep changes in the immune responsiveness, which were largely of compensatory (elevation of IgA content to over 2 mg/ml), immunosuppressive (decrease of lymphocyte blast transformation with PHA down to 52.2 and 48.6%) or autoimmune (increase of spontaneous lymphocyte blast transformation up to 8%) character.