Vaccine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Safety and tolerability of a high-potency zoster vaccine in adults >/= 50 or years of age.
Herpes zoster (HZ) incidence rises with age, especially after 50 years of age, probably due to waning varicella-zoster virus (VZV)-specific immunity. The Shingles Prevention Study [Oxman MN, Levin MJ, Johnson GR, Schmader KE, Straus SE, Gelb LD, et al. A vaccine to prevent herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia in older adults, N Engl J Med 2005;352:2271-84], enrolled people >/= 60 or years of age and showed that zoster vaccine prevents HZ and postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), presumably through boosting VZV-specific immunity. This study of people >/= 50 or years of age compared the safety and tolerability of two zoster vaccine potencies. ⋯ Both vaccine potencies were generally well tolerated in this study of people > or years of age. Although rates of some moderate or severe injection-site AEs were greater in the higher potency group, all rates met the prespecified criteria for clinically acceptable tolerability.
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Comparative Study
Assessment of the potency and potential immunomodulatory effects of the measles mumps rubella and varicella vaccine in infants.
This study compared the potency and immunomodulatory effects of measles mumps rubella (MMR) vaccine given to infants alone or in combination with varicella (MMR and V). In an additional group, MMR vaccination was delayed 42 days to permit analysis of potential effects on underlying maturation of systemic immune functions. Assessment of immunity to the vaccines indicated consistent antibody production coupled with mixed Th1/Th2 memory, and no significant differences between vaccine groups or to the group who had their MMR vaccination delayed. Parallel analyses of cytokine responses to phytohaemagglutinin and tetanus toxoid did not detect any "bystander" effects of the vaccines on systemic immunity.
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Vaccination against Hepatitis A virus (HAV) in Canada is currently targeted toward high-risk groups. However, universal vaccination has been adopted in several other countries with a similar disease burden. Here we develop an age-structured compartmental model of HAV transmission and vaccination in Canada to assess potential universal vaccination strategies. The model predicts that universal vaccination at age 1 (respectively 4, 9, 15), with phasing out of targeted vaccination, would reduce reported incidence by 60% (respectively 52, 36, 31%) and mortality attributable to HAV by 56% (respectively 45, 26, 25%), relative to continued targeted vaccination, over 80 years.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) against Dryvax challenge in vaccinia-naïve and vaccinia-immune individuals.
Modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) was evaluated as an alternative to Dryvax in vaccinia-naïve and vaccinia-immune adult volunteers. Subjects received intramuscular MVA or placebo followed by Dryvax challenge at 3 months. Two or more doses of MVA prior to Dryvax reduced severity of lesion formation, decreased magnitude and duration of viral shedding, and augmented post-Dryvax vaccinia-specific CD8(+) T cell responses and extracellular enveloped virus protein-specific antibody responses. MVA vaccination is safe and immunogenic and improves the safety and immunogenicity of subsequent Dryvax vaccination supporting the potential for using MVA as a vaccine in the general population to improve immunity to orthopoxviruses.