Protection against influenza virus infection in polymeric Ig receptor knockout mice immunized intranasally with adjuvant-combined vaccines.

The role of secretory IgA in conferring cross-protective immunity was examined in polymeric (p)IgR knockout (KO) mice immunized intranasally with different inactivated vaccines prepared from A/PR/8/34 (H1N1), A/Yamagata/120/86 (H1N1), A/Beijing/262/95 (H1N1), and B/Ibaraki/2/85 viruses and infected with the A/PR/8/34 virus in the upper respiratory tract (RT)-restricting volume. In wild-type mice, immunization with A/PR/8/34 or its variant (A/Yamagata/120/86 and A/Beijing/262/95) vaccines conferred complete protection or partial cross-protection against infection, while the B-type virus vaccine failed to provide protection. The protection or cross-protection was accompanied by an increase in the nasal A/PR/8/34 hemagglutinin-reactive IgA concentration, which was estimated to be >30 times the serum IgA concentration and much higher than the nasal IgG concentration.

Identification of Penicillin and other Beta-Lactam Resistance in Streptococcus Pneumoniae by Polymerase Chain Reaction.

To identify penicillin (Pc) and other β-lactam resistance in 310 clinical isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), 3 sets of primers were designed to amplify Pc-binding protein (PBP) genes previously detected in Pc-susceptible strains: 1) a 430-bp fragment of the pbp1a gene, 2) a 292-bp fragment of the pbp2x gene, and 3) a 77-bp fragment of the pbp2b gene. The amplified regions of each PBP gene were positioned in highly divergent sequences of Pc-resistant S. pneumoniae.

In Vitro Evaluation of the Activity of β-Lactams, New Quinolones, and Other Antimicrobial Agents Against Streptococcus Pneumoniae.

The in vitro activities of the β-lactam and quinolone antibiotics panipenem, cefpodoxime, cefdinir, cefditoren, faropenem, tosufloxacin, levofloxacin and grepafloxacin were compared with similar conventional antibiotics against penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP). Pneumococcal isolates collected from October 1994 to March 1995 (n=1283) consisted of penicillin-susceptible S. pneumoniae (PSSP; 59.

Incidence of penicillin-resistant streptococcus pneumoniae in Japan, 1993-1995.

The Working Group for PRSP was organized through the participation of 40 institutions to investigate the incidence of penicillin (Pc)-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) in Japan. We collected 2410 S. pneumoniae clinical isolates between October 1994 and March 1995.