[The trend in the spread of HIV infection among the children born to HIV-infected mothers in Donets'k Province]. / Tendentsiia rasprostraneniia VICh-infektsii sredi detei, rozhdennykh ot VICh-infitsirovannykh materei, v Donetskoi oblasti.

Recordable in Donets'k Province since the end of 1995 is an epidemic rise in incidence rates of HIV infection, with 3 to 3.5-fold annual increase in the number of children born to HIV-infected mothers. In 96.5 percent of the above children antibodies to HIV are detected at the time of birth, as evidenced by laboratory tests. 100 percent preservation of maternal antibodies to HIV has been found to be the case in babies 3 months old, which fact suggests that children born to HIV-infected mothers require repeated examinations beginning at the age of six months. In Donets'k Province, the probability for the HIV infection to pass from the infected mother to the fetus (newborn) is at the present time estimated to be on an average 42.8 to 50%.

[The effect of the initial level of immunity on the efficacy of antidiphtheria inoculations in children and adults]. / Vliianie iskhodnogo urovnia immuniteta na éffektivnost' protivodifteriinykh privivok u detei i vzroslykh.

Based on results of examination in the passive hemagglutination test of 1440 subjects at different ages, several distinguishing features were revealed of formation of artificial active antidiphtheria immunity depending on the basic level of immunity. Single revaccination of those subjects presenting with the basic immunity of less than 0.03 IU/ml provides defence against diphtheria in only 33.3 percent of adults and 50 percent of children, in those subjects presenting with immunity between 0.03 to 0.99 IU/ml it is highly effective, in the immunity 1 IU/ml and beyond the effect of further immunization is very low since 25 to 33.3 percent of subjects demonstrate enhancement of immunity, whereas 16.7 to 25 percent show lowering of it. The analysis of the immunological structure of the population shows that 45 to 60 percent of adults in different age groups need to be exposed to single revaccination, 14 to 37 present will find it insufficient, 3 to 36 percent redundant. We suggest that revaccination against diphtheria be conducted under control of the level of antitoxic immunity.

[The results of multiyear observations on the duration of the maintenance of immunity in those vaccinated and revaccinated against and recovered from measles]. / Rezul'taty mnogoletnikh nabliudenii za dlitel'nost'iu sokhraneniia immuniteta u vaktsinirovannykh, revaktsinirovannykh i perebolevshikh kor'iu.

The results of 5-year observations on the duration of immunity to measles virus in persons vaccinated and revaccinated against measles, as well as in persons having had this infection, are presented. The intensity of immunity was determined in the same persons with the use of the passive hemagglutination test. The study revealed differences in the formation, intensity and duration of postvaccinal immunity. A significant decrease in the concentration of antibodies over the period of 5 years was established in 50.0-52.3% of vaccines. Revaccination with live measles vaccine is an effective measure for enhancing immunity to measles virus in persons with initial antibody titers less than 1:10-1:20, but revaccination made in a single injection is not sufficient for the stable maintenance of measles morbidity at the sporadic level. Postinfectious immunity is characterized by stability and has no tendency towards decrease. Persons having had measles have no need in additional measures irrespective of the time elapsed after the disease.

[The value of determining antibodies to DNA in patients with purulent diseases of the lungs]. / Znachenie opredeleniia antitel k DNK u bol'nykh s nagnoitel'nymi zabolevaniiami legkikh.

Anti-DNA antibody titers are elevated in the patients with purulent diseases of the lungs and antibodies to nDNA appear that are undetectable in normal subjects. These data correlate with the inflammatory process activity in the lungs, with the diameter of the decayed cavity, disease duration, and efficacy of therapy. Dynamic titration of antibodies to DNA (particularly nDNA) over the course of the disease appears to be an important prognostic test reflecting the stability of autoimmune impairments and the efficacy of the therapeutic scheme used in the treatment of patients with purulent diseases of the lungs.

[Comparative characteristics of immunologic indices in patients with lung abscesses and viral hepatitis]. / Sravnitel'naia kharakteristika nekotorykh immunologicheskikh pokazatelei u bol'nykh s abtsessami legkikh i virusnym gepatitom.

A study of the immunological status in 52 patients with acute and 20 patients with chronic abscesses of the lungs, 86 patients with viral hepatitis revealed disorders of the immunological reactivity of a quantitative character with monotypic immune response. In autoimmune disorders it is necessary to carry out immunocorrection. In chronic forms immunocorrection should be considered the main treatment method.

[Epidemiological and immunological features of tetanus under conditions of long-term planned vaccine prophylaxis]. / Epidemiologicheskie i immunologicheskie osobennosti stolbianka v usloviiakh mnogoletnei planovoi vaktsinoprofilaktiki.

The introduction of mass immunization against tetanus has resulted in the decrease of morbidity rate (5.2 times), the leveling of morbidity rate among the urban and rural population and among males and females, though no essential effect on the seasonal distribution of tetanus morbidity has been observed. Persons over 50 years of age (housewives and pensioners) have become the main groups of risk at the post-immunization period. Mass immunization against tetanus over a period of many years has ensured the existence of a sufficient immune stratum (89.9 +/- 3.0% to 100 +/- 3.0%) and a sufficient level of antitoxic immunity (means geom equal to 6.72-9.6 I.U./ml) among children. Among adults, the proportion of persons protected from tetanus decreases in older age groups from 82.1 +/- 1.3% in persons aged 31-40 years to 22.1 +/- 2.0% in persons over 60 years. The observed differences between the coverage of the population with immunization and the proportion of persons having protective titers of tetanus antibodies require constant control of the intensity of immunity and its correction with regard to its initial level, especially in persons of older age groups.

[Effectiveness of measles immunoprophylaxis and the criteria for assessing its possible elimination]. / Effektivnost' immunoprofilaktiki kori i kriterii otsenki vozmozhnosti ee likvidatsii.

The study of measles morbidity in Donetsk Province in 1960-1984 and the study of antimeasles immunity in different groups of the population have shown that the problem of the liquidation of measles cannot be solved by immunizing the population in a single administration of the vaccine. To enhance the effectiveness of the immunoprophylaxis of measles and its influence on the epidemic process, a number of problems must be solved with the aim to improve the quality of the vaccine, especially its thermal stability, to establish the possibility of shifting the beginning of immunization from 15-17 months to 12 months of age, to increase the coverage of children with immunization against measles by decreasing the number of groundless exemptions from immunization and by immunizing children in risk groups according to individual schedules and dosage, to carry out selectively the booster immunization of persons who have lost their postvaccinal immunity, as revealed by laboratory test, or in whom such loss may be supposed, to introduce the objective method (indirect hemagglutination test) for controlling the state of immunity among different groups of the population into laboratory practice at sanitary and epidemiological stations. As to the possibility of the liquidation of measles, the statement of this problem is correct, but for its solution a complex of additional prophylactic and epidemic-control measures should be taken.

[Epidemiological and immunological criteria of the effectiveness of immunization with adsorbed DPT vaccine by the old and new schedules]. / Epidemiologicheskie i immunologicheskie kriterii éffektivnosti immunizatsii AKDS-vaktsinoi po staromu i novomu kalendariam.

The study revealed that the immunization of children with adsorbed DPT vaccine from the age of 3-4 months, as compared with the immunization of children from the age of 5-6 months, did not lead to an essential increase in the coverage of children with immunization at the period under study (1970-1983) and did not affect the total level of pertussis morbidity, as well as the proportion of children aged up to 1 year in the total number of pertussis cases. Children immunized at an early age produced antibodies in titers, equivalent to the titers in older children, but their immunity against pertussis, in contrast to their immunity against diphtheria and tetanus, was retained for a shorter period. The injection of adsorbed DPT vaccine at the age of 3-4 months was accompanied by a poorly pronounced increase in the content of IgG, the predominant synthesis of IgM and the suppression of the synthesis of IgA. The shift of the start of vaccination to the age of 3-4 months has probably some immunological grounds for diphtheria and tetanus, but it is premature with respect to pertussis.

[Duration of the preservation of postvaccinal immunity against measles and the results of a repeat immunization of children with various initial antibody levels]. / Dlitel'nost' sokhraneniia postvaktsinal'nogo immuniteta protiv kory i rezul'taty povtornoi immunizatsii detei s razlichnym iskhodnym soderzhaniem antitel.

The study of the blood sera of vaccinated children carried out by means of the indirect hemagglutination test with the use of dried erythrocytic diagnostic reagents prepared at the Pasteur Institute of Experimental Medicine, revealed that in groups free from measles infection for a long time immunity in children grew lower as the time elapsed since the date of vaccination increased. In 9-12 years antibody titers in the vaccines decreased, the percentage of children with protective titers dropping from 83.5 to 36.3. The revaccination of seronegative children ensured a significant increase in antibody titers in 51.6% of such children with the preservation of protective titers for 1 year (the term of observation). The repeated immunization of seropositive children with initial titers of 1:10 to 1:20 significantly stimulated their increase, lasting for a very short time, in 84.2-89.2% of children. In children with an initial antibody titer of 1:40 short-term seroconversion was detected only in 20-7% of cases, and in those with an initial titer of 1:80 no cases of seroconversion were observed. The data thus obtained suggest that the revaccination of seronegative children should be recommended.