On the need for, and the delivery of, cross-protective vaccines.

The rhinoviruses that are instrumental in causing about one-third of the outbreaks of the common cold present us with some 100 or so serotypes whose convalescent sera do not cross-neutralise. A similar situation prevails with the organism that causes gonorrhoea. Both the HIV and the protozoan causing malaria are notorious for their ability to evade the immune system by changes to their antigenic profile. Similarly, we face continual changes in the antigenic determinants of the influenza virus. It is clear that we require vaccine for these diseases that provide protection against a wide variety of basic variants. This can be achieved, as was shown by Arvind Kumar, who, in his PhD project, generated monoclonal antibodies to cross-reacting yet neutralising epitopes of a number of rhinoviruses. Such antibodies also neutralised some Coxsackie viruses as well as some of the types of Poliovirus. This demonstration of feasibility will be explored further in my paper with a view to arriving at a general approach to the production of vaccines whose humoral and cellular responses can neutralise a wide cross-section of serotype variants.

Collagen as potential cell scaffolds for tissue engineering.

Selections of collagen available commercially were tested for their biocompatibility as scaffold to promote cell growth in vitro via simple collagen fast test and cultivation of mammalian cells on the selected type of collagen. It was found that collagen type C9791 promotes the highest degree of aggregation as well as cells growth. This preliminary study also indicated potential use of collagen as scaffold in engineered tissue.

Perception of risk of vaccine adverse events: a historical perspective.

The psychology of risk perception puts the emotive evaluation of the risks associated with vaccination incorrectly into a high risk category. This causes a wariness of taking vaccines that has its roots in the deep history of people. Humans do not seek to disturb the status quo by which they live. So the introduction of a vaccinal material into a healthy baby requires courage and an educated anticipation that some important benefit will accrue to this act at some future date. This situation encourages the emergence of a resistance to vaccines and the establishment of propagandists and movements to promote such ideas. The origin and development of such movements and the arguments which they prefer are the subject of this paper. These are based on religion in the first instance and then they widen to include the practical and technical problems which the early vaccinators experienced. The making of vaccination against smallpox compulsory at law in the UK in (effectively) 1867, inspired a most active and able opposition to vaccination. The concerns which such movements raise and ways in which they may be addressed are dealt with in the final sections.