Plos One
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Vaccination is a cost-effective counter-measure to the threat of seasonal or pandemic outbreaks of influenza. To address the need for improved influenza vaccines and alternatives to egg-based manufacturing, we have engineered an influenza virus-like particle (VLP) as a new generation of non-egg or non-mammalian cell culture-based candidate vaccine. ⋯ This is the first report describing the use of an H5N1 VLP vaccine created from a clade 2 isolate. The results show that a non-replicating virus-like particle is effective at eliciting a broadened, cross-clade protective immune response to proteins from emerging H5N1 influenza isolates giving rise to a potential pandemic influenza vaccine candidate for humans that can be stockpiled for use in the event of an outbreak of H5N1 influenza.
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Economists believe that barter is the ultimate cause of social wealth--and even much of our human culture--yet little is known about the evolution and development of such behavior. It is useful to examine the circumstances under which other species will or will not barter to more fully understand the phenomenon. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are an interesting test case as they are an intelligent species, closely related to humans, and known to participate in reciprocal interactions and token economies with humans, yet they have not spontaneously developed costly barter. ⋯ Two potential explanations for this puzzling behavior are that chimpanzees lack ownership norms, and thus have limited opportunity to benefit from the gains of trade, and that chimpanzees' risk of defection is sufficiently high that large gains must be imminent to justify the risk. Understanding the conditions that support barter in chimpanzees may increase understanding of situations in which humans, too, do not maximize their gains.
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Unprecedented spread between birds and mammals of highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses (HPAI) of the H5N1 subtype has resulted in hundreds of human infections with a high fatality rate. This has highlighted the urgent need for the development of H5N1 vaccines that can be produced rapidly and in sufficient quantities. Potential pandemic inactivated vaccines will ideally induce substantial intra-subtypic cross-protection in humans to warrant the option of use, either prior to or just after the start of a pandemic outbreak. In the present study, we evaluated a split H5N1 A/H5N1/Vietnam/1194/04, clade 1 candidate vaccine, adjuvanted with a proprietary oil-in- water emulsion based Adjuvant System proven to be well-tolerated and highly immunogenic in the human (Leroux-Roels et al. (2007) The Lancet 370:580-589), for its ability to induce intra-subtypic cross-protection against clade 2 H5N1/A/Indonesia/5/05 challenge in ferrets. ⋯ These protection data in a stringent challenge model in association with an excellent clinical profile highlight the potential of this adjuvanted H5N1 candidate vaccine as an effective tool in pandemic preparedness.
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Several studies from other countries have shown that bullying, harassment, abuse or belittlement are a regular phenomenon faced not only by medical students, but also junior doctors, doctors undertaking research and other healthcare professionals. While research has been carried out on bullying experienced by psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees in Pakistan no such research has been conducted on medical students in this country. ⋯ Bullying or harassment is faced by quite a large proportion of medical students in Pakistan. The most frequent perpetrators of this bullying are consultants. Adoption of a policy against bullying and harassment by medical colleges, and providing avenues of support for students who have been bullied may help reduce this phenomenon, as the presence of these two was associated with decreased likelihood of students reporting having being bullied.
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Historical Article
Detection and molecular characterization of 9,000-year-old Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a Neolithic settlement in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis is the principal etiologic agent of human tuberculosis. It has no environmental reservoir and is believed to have co-evolved with its host over millennia. This is supported by skeletal evidence of the disease in early humans, and inferred from M. tuberculosis genomic analysis. Direct examination of ancient human remains for M. tuberculosis biomarkers should aid our understanding of the nature of prehistoric tuberculosis and the host/pathogen relationship. ⋯ Human tuberculosis was confirmed by morphological and molecular methods in a population living in one of the first villages with evidence of agriculture and animal domestication. The widespread use of animals was not a source of infection but may have supported a denser human population that facilitated transmission of the tubercle bacillus. The similarity of the M. tuberculosis genetic signature with those of today gives support to the theory of a long-term co-existence of host and pathogen.