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Biomedical subjects

M D Decker

Publications and source records attributed to M D Decker.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Acellular and whole-cell pertussis vaccines as booster doses: a multicenter study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the safety and immunogenicity of a variety of acellular (AC) and whole-cell (WC) pertussis vaccines combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids. METHODS: Standard enrollment and reaction forms were used at five sites, and serologic evaluation was performed at a single site. Nine AC (Massachusetts Public Health Laboratories, Biocine Sclavo recombinant pertussis toxoid [PT], Connaught/BIKEN, Lederle three-component, Biocine Sclavo recombinant three-component, SmithKline Beecham three-component, Porton three-component, Takeda-Wyeth, and Connaught multicomponent), and three WC (Connaught Laboratories, Lederle Laboratories, and Massachusetts Public Health Laboratories) were studied. All AC contained varying concentrations of PT; some vaccines also contained filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), pertactin, and/or agglutinogens. RESULTS: Two hundred forty children, aged 16 to 21 months and 4 to 6 years, were enrolled at five sites. Significantly less fever, redness, swelling, pain, limp, and use of pain medication were noted following AC compared with WC. Significant increases in antibody to PT were seen following all vaccines. Significant rises in FHA antibody were seen following all WC and the seven AC that contained FHA. Postbooster PT antibody levels were similar among the AC groups, regardless of the amount of PT administered (between 3.5 and 25 micrograms per dose). The dose of FHA did not affect PT antibody response. Infants primed with WC who were boosted with a monocomponent PT vaccine did not manifest a significant antibody response to FHA. CONCLUSION: The rate of adverse reactions was not a function of the number of antigens or the antigen quantity in the acellular vaccines, and antibody responses following AC were similar or better than antibody responses following WC. These results support the further evaluation of these vaccines in a larger National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-sponsored study in infants.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗

Adult immunization with acellular pertussis vaccine.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity in adults of several different concentrations of an acellular pertussis vaccine. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. SETTING: Medical center immunization clinic. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred eighteen healthy adult volunteers. INTERVENTIONS: Participants received standard adult tetanus-diphtheria vaccine alone or combined with full-strength, half-strength, or quarter-strength concentrations of a currently licensed acellular pertussis vaccine used for booster doses in young children. Full-strength vaccine contained 40 micrograms of pertussis proteins, consisting of 86% filamentous hemagglutinin, 8% pertussis toxin, 4% 69-kd outer-membrane protein, and 2% agglutinogens. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Local and systemic reactions were assessed for 14 days after vaccination. Serum samples for antibody assay were obtained before, 1 month after, and 1 year after immunization. RESULTS: Adverse reactions were few and minor and did not differ in frequency or severity among the four study groups. The groups receiving acellular pertussis vaccine showed strong antibody responses to pertussis antigens, which did not significantly differ by concentration of vaccine. After 1 year, levels of antibody to pertussis had declined by approximately 50% but remained substantially higher than preimmunization levels. The four groups did not differ in antibody responses to tetanus or diphtheria toxoids. CONCLUSIONS: Routine reimmunization of adults with a vaccine containing acellular pertussis antigens in addition to diphtheria and tetanus toxoids can substantially enhance pertussis antibody levels without an increase in adverse reactions or diminution in response to the diphtheria and tetanus components. Such a program might materially reduce respiratory illness among both adults and children.

Adult↗

Responses of children to booster immunization with their primary conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type B vaccine or with polyribosylribitol phosphate conjugated with diphtheria toxoid.

Children primed with one of four conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines received booster immunization with their primary vaccine or with polyribosylribitol phosphate conjugated with diphtheria toxoid. The latter vaccine produced postbooster antibody levels that equaled or exceeded those produced by boosting with the original vaccine, and thus may be used as a booster irrespective of the original vaccine.

Antibodies↗

Psychoactive drugs and the risk of injurious motor vehicle crashes in elderly drivers.

To determine whether commonly used psychoactive drugs increase the risk of involvement in motor vehicle crashes for drivers > or = 65 years of age, the authors conducted a retrospective cohort study. Data were obtained from computerized files from the Tennessee Medicaid program, driver's license files, and police reports of injurious crashes. Cohort members were Medicaid enrollees 65-84 years of age who had a valid driver's license during the study period 1984-1988 and who met other criteria designed to exclude persons unlikely to be drivers and to ensure availability of necessary study data. There were 16,262 persons in the study cohort with 38,701 person-years of follow-up and involvement in 495 injurious crashes. For four groups of psychoactive drugs (benzodiazepines, cyclic antidepressants, oral opioid analgesics, and antihistamines), the risk of crash involvement was calculated with Poisson regression models that controlled for demographic characteristics and use of medical care as an indicator of health status. The relative risk of injurious crash involvement for current users of any psychoactive drug was 1.5 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2-1.9). This increased risk was confined to benzodiazepines (relative risk = 1.5; 95% CI 1.2-1.9) and cyclic antidepressants (relative risk = 2.2; 95% CI 1.3-3.5). For these drugs, the relative risk increased with dose and was substantial for high doses: 2.4 (95% CI 1.3-4.4) for > or = 20 mg of diazepam and 5.5 (95% CI 2.6-11.6) for > or = 125 mg of amitriptyline. Analysis of data for the crash-involved drivers suggested that these findings were not due to confounding by alcohol use or driving frequency.

Accidents, Traffic↗

Comparative trial in infants of four conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines.

We performed a double-blind, randomized trial to compare the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of four conjugate Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccines given to infants 2, 4, and 6 months of age. Adverse reactions attributable to the vaccines were few and minor. The rates of systemic reactions did not differ among the various vaccines and were similar to those seen among children receiving conventional diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine. However, the four conjugate H. influenzae type b vaccines differed markedly in ability to stimulate antibody production. Mean antibody levels after three injections of polyribosylribitol phosphate conjugated with mutant diphtheria protein (PRP-CRM) or polyribosylribitol phosphate conjugated with tetanus toxoid (PRP-T) were 3.08 micrograms/ml and 3.64 micrograms/ml, respectively, significantly higher than those after the use of polyribosylribitol phosphate conjugated with outer-membrane protein of Neisseria meningitidis (PRP-OMP) (1.14 micrograms/ml) or polyribosylribitol phosphate conjugated with diphtheria toxoid (PRP-D) (0.28 microgram/ml). Only PRP-OMP produced a clinically pertinent elevation in antibody level after two injections (0.84 microgram/ml); the third injection of PRP-OMP produced a modest but statistically significant further elevation in mean antibody level (1.14 micrograms/ml). Only 29% of infants receiving PRP-D had antibody levels of 1 micrograms/ml, compared with 55%, 75%, and 83% of those receiving PRP-OMP, PRP-CRM, and PRP-T, respectively. We conclude that all four vaccines are safe and that all but PRP-D appear appropriate for use in a primary immunization series during infancy. The unique serologic response to PRP-OMP offers both advantages and disadvantages in comparison with PRP-CRM and PRP-T.

Antibody Formation↗

Medications and the safety of the older driver: is there a basis for concern?

Medications with central nervous system (CNS) effects, including benzodiazepines, cyclic antidepressants, antihistamines, narcotic analgesics, and hypoglycemics, have been thought to have the potential to impair driving. These drugs impair performance in younger drivers and some have been linked to an increased risk of motor vehicle crashes. Even though persons 65 years of age and older frequently take these drugs and are more susceptible to CNS effects, no direct data exist regarding whether or not medications adversely affect driving safety in this population. Thus there is an urgent need for further research in this area.

Accidents, Traffic↗

Continuous quality improvement and hospital epidemiology: common themes.

Recently, many have begun to explore the possibility of using analytical methods associated with continuous quality improvement in the efforts to improve health care. Central to this paradigm is the proposition that such analytical methods can be used to identify and react to variations in the processes and outcomes of care. These methods and principles are remarkably similar to those employed by hospital epidemiologists. This article explores the similarities between these fields in an attempt to bring together leading thinkers in both disciplines.

Cross Infection↗

Internal mammary artery graft at reoperation: risks, benefits, and methods of preservation.

To determine the effect of a prior internal mammary artery (IMA) graft on coronary artery bypass reoperation (CABR), we reviewed our experience with 410 consecutive patients: 313 received only saphenous vein grafts at initial coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and 97 received at least one IMA graft at CABG. Cardiac catheterization data before CABG were available in 110 patients (56 received only saphenous vein grafts, 54 received at least one IMA graft), allowing comparison of left ventricular function at CABG and CABR. Injury of the IMA graft occurred in 5 patients (1 death), but presence of an IMA graft was not an independent predictor of morbidity or mortality. Overall, the incidences of complications and deaths were higher in patients with saphenous vein grafts than in patients with IMA grafts, though not significantly so. Internal mammary artery grafts better preserved cardiac function: patients with IMA grafts had worse left ventricular function before CABG but better left ventricular function before CABR than patients with saphenous vein grafts. Left ventricular function deterioration from before CABG to before CABR was significantly less in patients with IMA grafts. We conclude that the risk of CABR is not increased by a previously constructed IMA graft and that left ventricular function is better preserved at CABR when an IMA graft was constructed at the initial operation.

Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic↗

Case report: fatal pulmonary toxoplasmosis following chemotherapy.

A 41-year-old woman with acute myelomonocytic leukemia in remission died of a rapidly progressive necrotizing pneumonia while in the recovery phase following consolidation chemotherapy. Autopsy revealed disseminated toxoplasmosis. Although this syndrome has been well described to present as a neurologic complication in certain immunocompromised patients, it is rare in acute leukemia, and non-neurologic presentations are even more unusual. This case emphasizes the need to be suspicious of toxoplasmosis in immunocompromised patients even in the absence of neurologic signs or symptoms.

Adult↗

Booster response to acellular pertussis vaccine in children primed with acellular or whole cell vaccines.

Few data are available on the effect of a booster dose of acellular pertussis vaccine in children primed as infants with acellular vaccine. We administered acellular pertussis vaccine (ACV) at 19 months to children immunized in infancy with ACV or whole cell vaccine. Forty-one infants had been randomly assigned to receive either ACV or whole cell vaccine at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. Antibody titers to pertussis toxin and filamentous hemagglutinin were significantly higher in ACV than whole cell vaccine recipients at 7 months; at 15 months antibody to filamentous hemagglutinin (but not pertussis toxin) remained significantly higher among those receiving ACV. At 19 months all 41 children received an ACV booster. Local and systemic reactions were few and minor and were equally distributed between the two groups. All children responded to booster with significant increases in antibody; these increases tended to be greater for those having been primed with ACV. ACV booster immunization appears safe and immunogenic, regardless of the vaccine given for primary immunization.

Age Factors↗

Seroprevalence of helicobacter pylori infection in couples.

We investigated the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori in 277 couples attending an infertility clinic. In total, 96 (17.3%) of the 554 persons were positive; in only 18 (6.6%) of the couples were both persons seropositive. Age was an important predictor for H. pylori infection. For 177 couples, information regarding birthplace, duration of cohabitation, history of ulcer or gastritis, and use of antacid or bismuth compounds was available. None of these variables correlated with H. pylori infection except place of birth; 69.1% of 55 persons born outside the United States were seropositive compared with 8.7% of persons born within the United States (P less than 0.0001). Being a partner of an H. pylori-infected person increased the risk of being infected; however, by multiple logistic regression analysis this effect was entirely explained by age and national origin. These data suggest that in young sexually active adults, person-to-person transmission of H. pylori does not occur or at most occurs infrequently.

Adult↗