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Biomedical subjects

D M Horstmann

Publications and source records attributed to D M Horstmann.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1978

Neutralizing and hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies to rubella virus as indicators of protective immunity in vaccinees and naturally immune individuals.

In general, hemagglutination-inhibiting (HAI) and neutralizing (NT) antibodies to rubella virus tend to parallel one another, and the presence of either antibody has been interpreted as reflecting protective immunity. It has recently been shown that persons who have HAI antibody but lack NT antibody may be subject to reinfection. In the present study these two antibodies were compared with regard to their appearance and persistence in vaccines and in those who have experienced natural infection. NT antibody appeared more slowly following immunization with HPV77DE5 or Cendehill vaccines than after natural infection or immunization with RA 27/3 vaccine. As with natural infection, initial NT antibody responses to RA 27/3 vaccine were of higher titer and persisted at higher levels for three years than was the case with either of the other vaccines. NT testing procedures were found to differ in sensitivity, depending on several factors including the cells in which the virus was grown.

Adult↗
PubMed1975

The relationship of a newly described acute-phase protein to human gestation.

Rho is a newly described acute-phase serum protein which increases in titer in response to a variety of inflammatory and infectious diseases. It is present in 100 per cent of sera from pregnant women by the twentieth week of gestation, rises in titer until term, and then falls slowly during the postpartum period. It was barely detectable in some fetal sera and in some amniotic fluid samples near the end of the first half of gestation, and it could not be demonstrated in fetal tissue obtained at that time. Fetal serum titers increase with gestational age, but fetal levels remain below those of maternal sera. Undifferentiated placental tissue and estrogen/progestin do not appear to evoke rho antigen production. The stimulating mechanism during gestation remains unknown.

Amniotic Fluid↗
PubMed1975

Large-scale production of rubella precipitinogens and their use in the diagnostic laboratory.

A method for producing large quantities of rubella theta and iota precipitating antigens in Vero cells is described. Using this reagent, the detection of anti-theta antibodies was found to be as sensitive as the hemagglutination inhibition test for both the determination of immune status and the diagnosis of acute rubella infection. The detection of anti-iota antibodies may permit diagnosis of rubella infection, when the collection of the first serum has been delayed and the early rise of hemagglutin-inhibiting and anti-theta antibodies has been missed.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Controlling rubella: problems and perspectives.

Long-term effectiveness of rubella vaccination in childhood is of particular importance because the ultimate goal of immunization is the prevention of infection during pregnancy. To determine how well vaccine-induced immunity persists in comparison to that acquired naturally, several hundred susceptible children who seroconverted after receiving HPV77DE5 vaccine were followed serologically over a 3-to-5-year period. The results indicate that vaccine-induced antibodies are less stable than those acquired through natural infection, and their persistence is closely related to the original response to immunization. Thus children who responded with a broad range of antibody types and who had brisk postvaccinal hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody titers of greater than or equal to 1:64, maintained such levels without significant decline. In contrast, among the children who had feeble hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody responses initially and failed to develop complement-fixing or precipitating antibodies, a significant proportion lost detectable hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody levels after 3 to 5 years. The current and future immunity of such children is therefore in doubt, unless natural reinfection with wild rubella virus or revaccination with a more effective vaccine corrects their antibody deficiencies.

Antibodies, Viral↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Sabin live poliovirus vaccination trials in the USSR, 1959.

Widespread use of the Sabin live attenuated poliovirus vaccine has had tremendous impact on the disease worldwide, virtually eliminating it from a number of countries, including the United States. Early proof of its safety and effectiveness was presented in 1959 by Russian investigators, who had staged massive trials in the USSR, involving millions of children. Their positive results were at first viewed in the United States and elsewhere with some skepticism, but the World Health Organization favored proceeding with large-scale trials, and responded to the claims made by Russian scientists by sending a representative to the USSR to review in detail the design and execution of the vaccine programs and the reliability of their results. The report that followed was a positive endorsement of the findings and contributed to the acceptance of the Sabin vaccine in the United States, where it has been the polio vaccine of choice since the mid-1960s.

History, 20th Century↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The poliomyelitis story: a scientific hegira.

There is evidence that paralytic poliomyelitis occurred in ancient times, but it was not recognized as a distinct disease until the eighteenth century and did not come into prominence until the late nineteenth century when epidemics began to appear. Outbreaks of increasing size were reported first in the Scandinavian countries, then in the United States and elsewhere, to the surprise and consternation of the medical profession. Poliovirus was first isolated in 1908, but many years of intensive research were required before the epidemiology and pathogenesis of the disease were sufficiently understood to allow preventive measures to be devised. The road to eventual success was complicated by controversies, setbacks, and tragedies, played out and influenced by many powerful personalities. Today there are two effective vaccines. The disease has been virtually eliminated in countries where they have been used extensively, yet in the developing areas of the world recent "lameness surveys" indicate that the incidence of paralytic poliomyelitis is as high as it was during the peak years in the United States in the early 1950s. The challenge now is to use the available vaccines to extend control to the developing countries and eventually to achieve elimination of the disease worldwide.

Animals↗