Obesity, a risk factor for increased severity of diverse diseases, is believed to have negative impact on vaccine efficacy. Recently, mortality has emerged as an outcome of pandemic influenza A virus subtype H1N1, necessitating development of effective vaccine strategies. Here we investigated effects of diet-induced obesity on vaccine-induced immune responses ...

In 2009, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) provided guidelines about which groups should be given first access to the H1N1 influenza vaccine. These guidelines recommended that people under 65 with chronic health conditions should be among the first groups to receive the H1N1 influenza vaccine. Severe obesity was ...

Background:Obesity is an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality from pandemic influenza H1N1. Influenza is a significant public health threat, killing an estimated 250 000-500 000 people worldwide each year. More than one in ten of the world's adult population is obese and more than two-thirds of the US adult population ...

To identify risk factors for death from pandemic (H1N1) 2009, we obtained data for 157 hospitalized patients with confirmed cases of this disease. Multivariate analysis showed that diabetes and class III obesity were associated with death. These findings helped define priority vaccination groups in Brazil.

Preclinical models of nicotine vaccine pharmacology have relied on i.v. or s.c. administration of nicotine. Models using cigarette smoke inhalation might more accurately simulate nicotine exposure in smokers. Nicotine vaccine effects were examined in rats using two cigarette smoke exposure models: a 10 min nose-only exposure (NSE) producing serum nicotine ...

The WHO First International Reference Preparation for BCG vaccine is over forty years old and is no longer available for distribution due to stock depletion and its significant loss of viability. International consultations identified a demand for replacement with sub-strain specific BCG preparations. An International collaborative study was carried out ...

To determine the optimal time of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination for induction of Th1 immunity, we measured the interferon (IFN)-γ and interleukin (IL)-10 secretion in purified protein derivative (PPD)-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures in newborns vaccinated at birth or 2nd month of life. Moreover, role of CD4(+) CD25(+) ...

Mycobacterium bovis BCG strains are live, attenuated vaccines generated through decades of in vitro passage. Because in vitro growth does not select for interaction with the host, it has been hypothesized that genetic loci lost from BCG code for virulence determinants that are dispensable for growth in the laboratory, as ...

Mycobacterial cell-wall skeleton (CWS) is an immunoactive and biodegradable particulate adjuvant and has been used for immunotherapy in patients with cancer. The CWS of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG-CWS) was studied as a universal vaccine vehicle for antigen conjugation, to develop potentially effective and safe vaccines. Here, we describe experiments ...

Abstract The bacille Calmette-Gu?rin (BCG) vaccination protects against tuberculosis (TB)-related meningitis and disseminated tuberculosis. While severe complications after BCG vaccination are relatively rare, different cutaneous reactions have been reported. We report a patient with a 7-mm erythematous nodule at a distance of 4 cm from the BCG injection site. Histopathologically, ...

Health care students in Sweden. To analyse the distribution of tuberculin skin test (TST) reactions and epidemiological factors related to TST reactivity. TST reactivity was analysed in 1190 students. A linear regression model was created for the relative contribution of background factors of TST reactivity. A subgroup of 287 non-vaccinated ...

The immune mechanisms that orchestrate protection against tuberculosis as a result of BCG vaccination are not fully understood. We used the immunomodulatory properties of fingolimod (FTY720) treatment to test whether the lung-resident memory T lymphocytes generated by BCG vaccination were sufficient to maintain immunity against challenge infection with mycobacteria (BCG). ...

Current methods for the identification of BCG vaccine in quality control settings involve acid-fast staining with microscopic examination. However, this method is unable to distinguish the many different sub-strains of BCG, or to differentiate BCG strains from virulent members of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. A multiplex PCR (mPCR) which uses ...

There is a need for an improved vaccine to better control human tuberculosis (TB), as the only currently available TB vaccine, bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) delivered parenterally, offers variable levels of efficacy. Therefore, recombinant strains expressing additional antigens are being developed alongside alternative routes to parenteral delivery. There is strong evidence ...

Mycobacterium bovis is the cause of tuberculosis in cattle and a serious zoonotic pathogen, most commonly contracted through consumption of unpasteurized dairy products. To control this zoonosis, many countries have developed bovine tuberculosis eradication programmes. Although relatively successful, efforts are hindered in many regions by spillover from wildlife reservoirs of ...

The current World Health Organization Requirements for BCG vaccine are in need of revision to address the diversity of sub-strains used for production, potential improvements of quality control assays for lot release, and the establishment of sub-strain specific Reference Reagents. A consultation meeting was organized to discuss issues regarding the ...

To date, the most promising vaccination strategies for the control of bovine tuberculosis (TB) focus on improving the efficacy of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). However, vaccination with BCG results in sensitization of animals to bovine tuberculin and compromises tests currently used for diagnosis of bovine TB infection. Thus, the ...

There have been multiple explanations put forward to try to explain the variable efficacy of the BCG vaccine. Here I propose the new hypothesis that the primary flaw of BCG is its inability to effectively establish a population of central memory T cells. Instead, the vaccine establishes immunity represented by ...

Bacillus Camette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is the only licensed vaccine against tuberculosis, yet its protective efficacy is highly variable between different geographical regions. We hypothesized that exposure to nontuberculous mycobacteria attenuates BCG immunogenicity by inducing mycobacterial-specific regulatory T cells (Tregs). Gambian neonates were recruited at birth and randomized to receive BCG ...

Mutations that arose in bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) daughter strains during decades of in vitro cultivation have long been suspected of reducing the efficacy of the BCG vaccine against pulmonary tuberculosis. Although concern was raised 6 decades ago that BCG had become overattenuated, preferential use of relatively virulent BCG vaccines has ...

Eurasian badgers (Meles meles) are a reservoir host of Mycobacterium bovis and are implicated in the transmission of tuberculosis to cattle in Ireland and Great Britain. The development of a vaccine for use in badgers is considered a key element of any long-term sustainable campaign to eradicate the disease from ...

OBJECTIVE: To prepare the hepatitis B-Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin combined vaccine (HB-BCG combined vaccine) and resolve a needle problem of the two kinds of hepatitis B vaccine (HB vaccine) and M. bovis Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) for the innoculation. METHODS: The hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was prepared by the genetic ...

Given that TB still constitutes a tremendous public health problem at the start of the 21st Century, it may come as a surprise that Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), developed nearly 100 years ago, is today still the only vaccine available against TB. Owing to its limited efficiency in controlling TB, much ...

Universal neonatal BCG vaccination was discontinued in Cork in 1972. Following an outbreak of TB in 2 creches in the HSE South, a universal BCG vaccination program was re-introduced in October 2008. The aim of this study was to determine the vaccination process (in-hospital and community) and the in-hospital uptake ...

Novel tuberculosis vaccination strategies hinge on BCG priming, yet newborn BCG vaccination may cause BCG disease in HIV-infected infants. Viral-vectored or subunit prime vaccine, followed by delayed BCG boost only for HIV-uninfected infants, may be a safe alternative for all newborns, regardless of maternal HIV infection. This approach should be ...

In order to evaluate the biochemical characteristics of 14 substrains of Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) - Russia, Moreau, Japan, Sweden, Birkhaug, Danish, Glaxo, Mexico, Tice, Connaught, Montreal, Phipps, Australia and Pasteur - we performed eight different biochemical tests, including those for nitrate reduction, catalase, niacin accumulation, urease, Tween ...

Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is traditionally used for vaccination against tuberculosis. BCG vaccine contains live attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis. Intravesical BCG is also effective in treatment of transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder. Complications after intravesical BCG immunotherapy are extremely rare. We report an iliac muscle abscess due ...

Formalin-killed promastigotes (FKP) of Leishmania major, in combination with Montanide ISA 720 (MISA), BCG or alum were used in vaccination of an inbred murine model against cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL). Significant and specific increases in anti-FKP IgG responses were detected for both alum-FKP and BCG-FKP compared to MISA-FKP (p < 0.001). ...

BCG vaccination of neonatal calves induces significant protection against bovine tuberculosis. The enhanced protection observed in neonatal calves may be linked to an enhanced capacity for IFNgamma production by innate cells, including WC1(+) gammadelta T cells, which constitute a major population in young cattle. Intranasal BCG vaccination of mice induces ...

BCG scar has been used as an indicator of vaccination with BCG in the past, but the validity of scar among HIV-positive children is still unknown. The validity of BCG scar reading among such children was estimated, using three different gold standards. The sensitivity ranged from 81.3% (95%-CI: 78.0-84.2) to ...

Neonatal bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination is widely employed to protect against tuberculosis. Predominant Th1 but not mixed Th1/Th2 responses are thought to be protective. If so, effective vaccination must cause Th1 imprints. The immune system of infants differs from that of adults and such differences could critically affect neonatal vaccination. ...

Vaccination of all newborns with bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine is a standard practice in developing countries. Disseminated mycobacterial infection in an immunocompromised child can be caused by BCG and other mycobacteria. A total of 21 patients with a histopathologic diagnosis of mycobacterial infection were studied in a period of 4 ...

PURPOSE: Allergic asthma is characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airway hyperresponsiveness driven by allergen-specific T helper (Th)2 cells. Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination has been documented to suppress Th2 responses and allergic airway inflammation in animal models. Since interleukin (IL)-12 is capable of inhibiting Th2 responses, we sought ...

The rational design of new vaccines engineered to target key components of the host immune response is crucial to aid control of important infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. In this report, we determined whether modifying the function of pulmonary APC could improve protection against infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Targeted delivery ...

BACKGROUND: Oral polio vaccine (OPV) is recommended to be given at birth together with BCG vaccine. While we were conducting two trials including low-birth-weight (LBW) and normal-birth-weight (NBW) infants in Guinea-Bissau, OPV was not available during some periods and therefore some infants did not receive OPV at birth, but only ...

We demonstrate here that immunizing naïve mice with low numbers of recombinant Bacille Calmette-Guérin (rBCG) expressing beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) generates predominant Th1 responses to both BCG and beta-gal whereas infection with high numbers generates a mixed Th1/Th2 response to both BCG and beta-gal. Furthermore, the Th1 response to both BCG and ...

M. bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG), currently the only available vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), fails to adequately protect individuals from active and latent TB infection. New vaccines are desperately needed to decrease the worldwide burden of TB. We created a recombinant strain of BCG that overproduces an L,D-transpeptidase in order to ...

Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most prevalent cause of death due to a single pathogen. Bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) is the only vaccine available for clinical use that protects against miliary TB; however, this vaccine has shown variable levels of efficacy against pulmonary TB. In India, a single dose ...

To investigate the effect of vitamin A supplementation and BCG vaccination at birth in low birthweight neonates. Randomised, placebo controlled, two by two factorial trial. Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. 1717 low birthweight neonates born at the national hospital. Neonates who weighed less than 2.5 kg were randomly assigned to 25 000 IU ...

The tuberculin skin test (TST) is widely used in TB clinics to aid Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) diagnosis, but the definition and the significance of a positive test in very young children is still unclear. This study compared the TST in Gambian children at 4(1/2) months of age who either received ...

Vaccination is an alternative method of controlling bovine tuberculosis (BTB) particularly in developing countries where the test and slaughter control method is not acceptable socially and economically. The objective of this study was to evaluate the immunogenicity of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination in bovine neonates. Twelve BTB free bovine neonates ...

The current vaccine for tuberculosis (TB), an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG), is effective to prevent childhood onset of the disease, but its efficacy is reduced in adults. One strategy to improve the existing vaccine is to develop more effective adjuvants. Lactoferrin, an iron-binding glycoprotein possessing ...

Lupus vulgaris (LV) is a rare form of cutaneous mycobacterial infection in children. Most cases follow hematogenous or lymphatic seeding, and more rarely from exposure to bacillus Calmette- Gu?rin (BCG) vaccine. We report a child that received BCG vaccination and developed LV 2 months later.

IFNgamma plays an important part in immunity to tuberculosis (TB), but although it is necessary, it is not on its own sufficient for protection against TB. To identify other cytokines that play a role in the protection against TB induced by BCG vaccination, immune responses were compared between vaccinated and ...

Oral delivery of live Mycobacterium bovis BCG in a lipid matrix invokes cell-mediated immune (CMI) responses in mice and consequent protection against pulmonary challenge with virulent mycobacteria. To investigate the influence of prior BCG sensitization on oral vaccine efficacy, we assessed CMI responses and BCG colonization of the alimentary tract ...

Despite the extensive success with the introduction of M. bovis Bacille Calmette-Gu?rin (BCG), tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global epidemic infecting between 8 and 9 million people annually with an estimated 1.7 million deaths each year. However, because of its demonstrated effectiveness against some of the most severe forms of ...

Several new antituberculous vaccine candidates that are effective against primary infection in preclinical animal models have now entered the early phases of clinical trials. Many of these clinical trials involve subunit vaccines, recombinant bacillus Calmette-Gu??rin (BCG), or improvement of BCG immunity by boosting with subunit vaccines or recombinant viral vectors ...

Results have been conflicting as to whether Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, a non-specific stimulator of the immune function, protects, predisposes or is unrelated to the development of childhood asthma. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we qualitatively and quantitatively appraised the epidemiological evidence. Eligible studies were identified using a search ...

In a 12-month cohort follow-up study of 2435 children vaccinated in 2007 by Statens Serum Institute BCG strain (BCG SSI, 17.8% had an adverse event (AE): erythema 12.4%, induration 12.2%, abscesses 2.5%, ulceration 0.9%, lymphadenitis 0.1%. The factors associated with a lower risk of AE were: age at vaccination <1 ...

There are reports that BCG vaccine take-up may be delayed or poor among preterm and low birth weight babies The present study was conducted with the objective of (a) studying BCG take-up through tuberculin conversion by Mantoux test at 12 weeks and 6 months of age in babies vaccinated with ...