[Humoral immunity to diphtheria and tetanus in pregnant women and newborn infants]. / Izuchenie gumoral'nogo immuniteta k difterii i stolbniaku u beremennykh i novorozhdennykh.

Pregnant and parturient women have been examined in different regions of the USSR: Moscow, the Turkmen SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR and the Uzbek SSR. Altogether 720 placental sera and 522 funic sera have been checked for the presence of antibodies to diphtheria and tetanus toxoids in the passive hemagglutination test. Considerable groups of women with the insufficient level of immunity to diphtheria (40-66%) and tetanus (42.1-58.8%) have been revealed in different republics. Among women over 70 years the percentage of persons with the absence of antibodies or having low antibody titers has proved to be even higher. The comparative analysis of antibody titers has shown a correlation between antibody titers in mothers and newborn infants in 83.6% of cases for diphtheria toxoid and in 72.9% of cases for tetanus toxoid. These data show that among parturient women and newborn infants large groups remain unprotected against diphtheria and tetanus, which indicates the necessity of correcting the immune status of women of the productive age.

[Epidemiological and immunological assessment of a schedule of prophylactic inoculations]. / Epidemiologicheskaia i immunologicheskaia otsenka kalendaria profilakticheskikh privivok.

The epidemiological and immunological evaluation of two immunization schedules approved by the Orders of the USSR Ministry of Health No. 322 of April 24, 1973, and No. 50 of January 14, 1980, has been made on the basis of the results obtained in the Brest region of the Byelorussian SSR and in the Turkmen SSR. According to these results, the use of the schedule approved by Order No. 50 has made it possible to increase the groups of children receiving correct and timely immunization with measles vaccine by 8.3% and 28.8% and with adsorbed DPT vaccine by 17.2% and 5.5% in the Brest region of the Byelorussian SSR and in the Turkmen SSR respectively. Considerable groups of children have been found to be immunized with deviations from the approved schedules with respect to the scheme and time of immunization: 62.1% and 44.5% in the Brest region, 81.3% and 80.5% in the Turkmen SSR (during the periods of the implementation of Orders No. 322 and No. 50 respectively). Acute respiratory viral infections, bronchitis and pneumonia have proved to be the main reasons for medical exemption from immunization in both republics, these diseases constituting 61.6-71.1% of all medical contraindications. The negative influence of earlier infectious diseases on the level of postvaccinal immunity has been shown.

[Humoral immunity indices of chronic alcoholism patients]. / Izuchenie nekotorykh pokazatelei gumoral'nogo immuniteta u bol'nykh khronicheskim alkogolizmom.

Sera obtained from 642 patients with chronic alcoholism and 400 sera from healthy donors, collected in different regions of the USSR (Moscow, the Kirghiz SSR, Transcarpathian Province, the northern Caucasus), were studied. Out of all patients with chronic alcoholism whose blood sera were examined, persons aged 20-30 years constituted 22%, 31-40 years, 41.8%, 41-50 years, 27.5%, above 50 years, 8.7%. The results of the study of the immune structure of these patients with respect to the causative agents of respiratory diseases revealed a large proportion of persons seropositive to influenza virus B Leningrad/369/75 (92-93%) and coronavirus OC-43 (78-93%). Patients with chronic alcoholism were shown to belong to a high risk group with respect to Legionella pneumophila infection. The proportion of persons with antibodies to L. pneumophila among such patients (up to 21.1%) was considerably higher than among healthy donors (not more than 6%). In different regions of the USSR large risk groups with respect to diphtheria (42-56%) and tetanus (12-45%) were detected among patients with chronic alcoholism. These patients also showed considerably higher levels of anti-tissue antibodies in comparison with the healthy population.

[Antigen isolation from Rickettsia prowazekii cultured in FL cells and its use in the macrophage migration inhibition reaction]. / Poluchenie antigena iz rikketsii Provacheka, kul'tiviruemykh v FL-kletkakh, i ispol'zovanie ego v reaktsii ingibitsii migratsii makrofagov.

An antigen obtained from R. prowazekii cultivated in hydrocortisone-treated FL-cells possesses activity determined in the complement fixation test and the macrophage migration inhibition test. Such antigen can be used in the macrophage migration inhibition test with macrophages obtained from animals immunized with the preparations of rickettsial egg cultures.

[Combined action of penicillin, tetracycline and rifampicin on R. sibirica and R. prowazekii in experiments on chick embryos]. / Izuchenie sochetannogo deistviia penitsillina, tetratsiklina i rifampitsina na R. sibirica i R. prowazekii v opytakh na kurinykh émrionakh.

The effect of combinations of penicillin, tetracycline and rifampicin on R. prowazekii (the causative agent of typhus) and R. sibirica (the causative agent of tick-borne rickettsiosis of the North Asia) was studied. It was shown that tetracycline and penicillin used in combination had a summation effect on both R. sibirica and R. prowazekii. The dose of each antibiotic was 2 times lower than the doses of the antibiotics used alone. However, R. sibirica was less sensitive to this combination than R. prowazekii: the minimum rickettsiocidic doses of the combination were 0.5 mg of tetracycline + 10000 units of penicillin per embryo with respect to R. sibirica and 0.1 mg of tetracycline + 10000 units of penicillin per embryo with respect to R. prowazekii. The combinations of rifampicin with penicillin or tetracycline in the concentrations used had no rickettsiocidic effect on either R. sibirica or R. prowazekii. However, it should be noted that these combinations had a synergistic action and provided a rickettsiostatic effect on R. prowazekii: the dose of rifampicin in its combination with penicillin was decreased 10 times and in the combination of rifampicin with tetracycline the doses of both rifampicin and tetracycline were decreased 10 times. Still, penicillin even in a dose of 20000 units per embryo had only a rickettsiostatic effect on R. sibirica and R. prowazekii.