INTRODUCTION: CORONAVIRUSES IN GENERAL Coronaviruses (CoVs) are a family of single-stranded positive (plus, +) RNA viruses with the largest RNA genomes of any human pathogenic viruses, ranging from 26 to 32 kb in length. Pathogenic CoVs of humans and domestic…
The combining of multiple antigens into a single vaccine is not a new concept; combination vaccines have long been a bedrock of immunization programs. Since the early 1990s, we have transitioned from a world in which DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, and…
HISTORY OF DISEASE Cholera is a rapidly dehydrating, watery diarrheal disease caused by intestinal infection with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae serogroups O1 and O139. Cholera has probably existed on the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. Ancient manuscripts describe the…
Jay A. Berzofsky, MD, PhD Branch Chief Vaccine Branch Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda Maryland United States INTRODUCTION Immunologists have long hoped to exploit the exquisite specificity of the immune system to eradicate cancers. Almost nothing is…
BIODEFENSE AND SPECIAL PATHOGEN VACCINES Military personnel have the potential to be exposed to many infectious agents as endemic diseases and in their unnatural form as biological weapons. Increasingly, civilian populations may be targets for terrorist attacks using microorganisms (or…
Anthrax, a zoonotic disease caused by Bacillus anthracis , has three forms: cutaneous, inhalational, and gastrointestinal. Mortality in untreated cutaneous cases is approximately 20%, but less than 1% if antibiotics are promptly given. Inhalational anthrax is almost 100% fatal if…
HISTORY OF DISEASE In the 1950s, multiple researchers , identified a new agent as the cause of acute respiratory disease (ARD), pharyngitis, conjunctivitis, and pneumonitis. Soon afterward, these agents were recognized to be a related group of viruses and given…
## Recommendations for immunization practices are based on scientific knowledge of vaccine characteristics, biology of immunization, epidemiology of specific diseases, and host characteristics. In addition, experience and judgment of public health officials and specialists in clinical and preventive medicine play…
Passive immunization, passive immunity, and passive immunotherapy all refer to the transfer of antibodies to an unprotected individual for the prevention or treatment of disease. The first formal demonstration of passive immunization involved successful treatment of diphtheria and tetanus in…
In addition to one or more immunogens, * * An immunogen is a preparation consisting of all or a portion of a disease-containing organism, or the nucleic acid that encodes one or more of the proteins from that organism, or…