Effect of high-affinity anti-Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipopolysaccharide antibodies induced by immunization on the rate of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Patients with cystic fibrosis (CF; N = 26) and with no prior history of infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa were immunized with an octavalent O-polysaccharide-toxin A conjugate vaccine. During the next 4 years, 16 patients (61.5%) remained free of infection and 10 (38.5%) became infected. Total serum antilipopolysaccharide (LPS) antibody levels induced by immunization were comparable in infected and noninfected patients. In contrast, 12 of 16 noninfected versus 3 of 10 infected patients (p = 0.024) mounted and maintained a high-affinity anti-LPS antibody response. When compared retrospectively with the rate in a group of age- and gender-matched, nonimmunized, noncolonized patients with CF, the rate at which P. aeruginosa infections were acquired was significantly lower (p < or = 0.02) among all immunized versus nonimmunized patients during the first 2 years of observation. Subsequently, only those immunized patients who maintained a high-affinity anti-LPS antibody response had a significant reduction (p < or = 0.014) in the rate of infection during years 3 and 4. Smooth, typeable strains of P. aeruginosa predominated among immunized patients; rough, nontypeable strains were most frequently isolated from nonimmunized patients. Mucoid variants were isolated from one immunized patient versus six nonimmunized patients. These results indicate that the induction of a high-affinity P. aeruginosa anti-LPS antibody response can influence the rate of infection in patients with CF.

[Effectiveness of oral, attenuated live Salmonella typhi Ty 21a vaccine in controlled field trials]. / Zur Wirksamkeit des oralen, attenuierten Lebendimpfstoffes Salmonella typhi Ty 21a in kontrollierten Feldversuchen.

The first live oral typhoid vaccine (strain Salmonella typhi Ty 21a) distributed under the trade name of "Vivotif" has been evaluated for safety and efficacy in volunteer studies and in large-scale, placebo-controlled, double-blind field trials. While the data demonstrated that the vaccine was well tolerated, the level of efficacy varied distinctly. It is probable that the differences observed can be chiefly attributed to the various vaccine formulations evaluated to facilitate the passage of the acid-sensitive vaccine strain through the acid environment of the stomach. Based upon these results, the initially marketed formulation (2 bicarbonate capsules + vaccine capsule) was changed to an acid-resistant capsule which was subsequently evaluated in a field trial conducted in Chile and involving 44,000 school age children. Following 4 years of surveillance, a protection rate of 70% was obtained. To further optimize the means of delivering the vaccine, a formulation consisting of lyophilized vaccine reconstituted in a buffer solution is now being evaluated in a Chilean and Indonesian field trial. A similar though less practicable formulation showed excellent efficacy (approximately 95%) in a previous Egyptian field trial.