Vaccination Campaign (vaccination + campaign)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Sterilizing Vaccines or the Politics of the Womb: Retrospective Study of a Rumor in Cameroon

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2000
Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg
In 1990 a rumor that public health workers were administering a vaccine to sterilize girls and women spread throughout Cameroon. Schoolgirls leapt from windows to escape the vaccination teams, and the vaccination campaign (part of the Year of Universal Child Immunization) was aborted. This article traces the origin and development of this rumor. Theories of rumor and ambiguous cultural response to new technologies shed some light on its genesis and spread, but explain neither its timing nor its content. For this task we need to examine the historical context of Cameroonian experience with colonial vaccination campaigns and the contemporary contexts of the turmoil of democratization movements and economic crisis, concurrent changes in contraceptive policy, and regional mistrust of the state and its "hegemonic project." Drawing on Bay art's politique du ventre and White's thoughts on gossip, we explore this rumor as diagnostic of local response to global and national projects. This response, expressed in this case through the idiom of threats to local reproductive capacity, reveals a feminine side to local-global relations, a politics of the womb, [rumor, immunization, public health, Cameroon, fertility] [source]


Impact of an education program on late diagnosis of retinoblastoma in Honduras

PEDIATRIC BLOOD & CANCER, Issue 6 2007
Christopher Leander MD
Abstract Background In developed countries, more than 90% of children with retinoblastoma present with limited-stage disease and are cured; however, in countries with limited resources, like Honduras, most patients present with advanced disease and cure rates are less than 50%. Early diagnosis is necessary to improve the survival of children with retinoblastoma in these countries. Procedure We describe the preliminary results of a retinoblastoma education program linked to a national vaccination campaign in Honduras. Posters and flyers were designed to be accessible to poorly educated readers, to convey the severity of retinoblastoma, and to provide contact information. Charts and an electronic database were reviewed to determine age at diagnosis, presenting signs and symptoms, date of diagnosis, and outcome. Results During the eight previous years (July 1995,June 2003), 73% of the 59 diagnosed cases of retinoblastoma were extraocular; in contrast, during the post-campaign period (June 2003,January 2005), only 35% of the 23 diagnosed cases showed extraocular spread (P,=,0.002). More than one-third of patients in both time periods either refused therapy or abandoned treatment. Conclusion This inexpensive approach is an effective first step toward improving survival of childhood retinoblastoma. Abandonment and refusal of therapy are continuing obstacles. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2007;49:817,819. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Impact of yellow fever outbreaks on two howler monkey species (Alouatta guariba clamitans and A. caraya) in Misiones, Argentina

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, Issue 6 2010
Ingrid Holzmann
Abstract Two yellow fever outbreaks (YFOs) ocurred in northeastern Argentina between November 2007 and October 2008, seriously affecting populations of two howler monkey species: the brown howler Alouatta guariba clamitans and the black howler Alouatta caraya. Both howlers live syntopically in El Piñalito Provincial Park, Misiones, where four groups (36 individuals) were studied since January 2005. The first dead howlers were found on January 20, 2008, in El Piñalito. Systematic searches found 14 dead howlers within the area (12 from the study groups and two from neighboring groups), with only two young seen on January 25, 2008, and none found since up to December 2008. In October 2008, another YFO hit howler monkey populations from El Soberbio, Misiones. Overall, 59 howlers were found dead in Misiones from November 2007 to December 2008. Thanks to the alert of the howler's death in El Piñalito, a prompt human vaccination campaign started in the area. Wild howler monkey populations from both species are in a delicate situation in Misiones, especially the brown howler, an already endangered species in Argentina and endemic to the Atlantic Forest. If we add the recurrence of YFOs to the reduction of suitable habitat to small fragments, it could be only a matter of time until howler populations disappear from the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest in Misiones. Am. J. Primatol. 72:475,480, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses after Influenza Vaccination in Kidney Transplant Recipients

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 10 2009
S Candon
It has been speculated that influenza vaccination of renal allograft recipients could be associated with de novo production and/or increased titers of anti-HLA antibodies (HLA-Ab). To directly address this issue, we recruited 66 stable renal transplant recipients and 19 healthy volunteers during the 2005,2006 vaccination campaign. At day 0 and day 30 following vaccination, HLA-Ab were screened and in parallel influenza-specific antibody and T-cell responses were assessed. Humoral postvaccinal responses to A/H1N1 and A/H3N2 strains, but not B strain, were less frequent in transplanted patients than in control subjects. Significant expansion of influenza-specific IFN-,-producing T cells was observed at similar frequencies in patients and controls. There was no correlation between cellular and humoral postvaccinal responses. No impact of sex, age or immunosuppressive regimen could be evidenced. Vaccination was not associated with any significant change in preexisting or de novo anti-HLA sensitization. No episode of allograft rejection was recorded in any of the patients. Our results suggest that flu vaccination is safe in stable renal transplanted patients. Larger studies are needed for definitive statistical proof of the safety and effectiveness, with regard to the quality of the immune response, of yearly influenza vaccination in immunosuppressed patients. [source]


High Level of Immunity against Poliomyelitis in Albanian Refugees in Southern Italy

JOURNAL OF TRAVEL MEDICINE, Issue 3 2000
P.L. Lopalco
Background: The Apulia region (Southern Italy) may be considered a "border region" which, due to its position, has to face daily arrivals of refugees, especially from Albania. When the exodus of Albanians took place in 1991, a seroepidemiologic study revealed a low seroimmunity to poliomyelitis. In 1996, a large outbreak of paralytic poliomyelitis occurred in Albania. The aim of the study was to evaluate the poliomyelitis immunization level in a sample of Albanian refugees who arrived in the Apulia region between April and May 1997. Methods: Blood samples were obtained, after informed consent and on a voluntary basis, from 667 subjects housed in seven refugee camps in the Apulia region. Titration of neutralizing antibodies to the three polioviruses was carried out. Results: The findings showed that Albanian refugees had adequate levels of immunity to all polioviruses (95%for poliovirus type 1, 98.6%for poliovirus type 2 and 91.4%for poliovirus type 3). Moreover, a high immunization rate was found in all age groups irrespective of the areas of origin of the refugees and their socioeconomic conditions. Conclusions: Our findings show that Albanian refugees in Apulia region have adequate levels of immunity against polioviruses and confirm the effectiveness of mass vaccination campaigns with OPV conducted by WHO in Albania following an outbreak of poliomyelitis in 1996. [source]


Sterilizing Vaccines or the Politics of the Womb: Retrospective Study of a Rumor in Cameroon

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY QUARTERLY, Issue 2 2000
Pamela Feldman-Savelsberg
In 1990 a rumor that public health workers were administering a vaccine to sterilize girls and women spread throughout Cameroon. Schoolgirls leapt from windows to escape the vaccination teams, and the vaccination campaign (part of the Year of Universal Child Immunization) was aborted. This article traces the origin and development of this rumor. Theories of rumor and ambiguous cultural response to new technologies shed some light on its genesis and spread, but explain neither its timing nor its content. For this task we need to examine the historical context of Cameroonian experience with colonial vaccination campaigns and the contemporary contexts of the turmoil of democratization movements and economic crisis, concurrent changes in contraceptive policy, and regional mistrust of the state and its "hegemonic project." Drawing on Bay art's politique du ventre and White's thoughts on gossip, we explore this rumor as diagnostic of local response to global and national projects. This response, expressed in this case through the idiom of threats to local reproductive capacity, reveals a feminine side to local-global relations, a politics of the womb, [rumor, immunization, public health, Cameroon, fertility] [source]


Capturing of cell culture-derived modified Vaccinia Ankara virus by ion exchange and pseudo-affinity membrane adsorbers

BIOTECHNOLOGY & BIOENGINEERING, Issue 4 2010
Michael W. Wolff
Abstract Smallpox is an acute, highly infectious viral disease unique to humans, and responsible for an estimated 300,500 million deaths in the 20th century. Following successful vaccination campaigns through the 19th and 20th centuries, smallpox was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980. However, the threat of using smallpox as a biological weapon prompted efforts of some governments to produce smallpox vaccines for emergency preparedness. An additional aspect for the interest in smallpox virus is its potential use as a platform technology for vector vaccines. In particular, the latter requires a high safety level for routine applications. IMVAMUNE®, a third generation smallpox vaccine based on the attenuated Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus, demonstrates superior safety compared to earlier generations and represents therefore an interesting choice as viral vector. Current downstream production processes of Vaccinia virus and MVA are mainly based on labor-intensive centrifugation and filtration methods, requiring expensive nuclease treatment in order to achieve sufficient low host-cell DNA levels for human vaccines. This study compares different ion exchange and pseudo-affinity membrane adsorbers (MA) to capture chicken embryo fibroblast cell-derived MVA-BN® after cell homogenization and clarification. In parallel, the overall performance of classical bead-based resin chromatography (Cellufine® sulfate and Toyopearl® AF-Heparin) was investigated. The two tested pseudo-affinity MA (i.e., sulfated cellulose and heparin) were superior over the applied ion exchange MA in terms of virus yield and contaminant depletion. Furthermore, studies confirmed an expected increase in productivity resulting from the increased volume throughput of MA compared to classical bead-based column chromatography methods. Overall virus recovery was ,60% for both pseudo-affinity MA and the Cellufine® sulfate resin. Depletion of total protein ranged between 86% and 102% for all tested matrices. Remaining dsDNA in the product fraction varied between 24% and 7% for the pseudo-affinity chromatography materials. Cellufine® sulfate and the reinforced sulfated cellulose MA achieved the lowest dsDNA product contamination. Finally, by a combination of pseudo-affinity with anion exchange MA a further reduction of host-cell DNA was achieved. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2010. 105: 761,769. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]