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The first pneumococcal vaccine targeting the youngest age groups, a seven-valent conjugate vaccine (PCV7), was licensed in Europe in 2001. Since then several European countries have introduced PCV7 in their childhood vaccination schedules. Still, information on vaccination schemes, vaccine uptake and impact of vaccine introduction is scarce in Europe. The following article summarises the characteristics of national pneumococcal vaccination programmes for children in 32 European countries and provides an estimate of vaccine use based on sales data for 22 countries between 2001 and 2007. There were wide variations in the recommended PCV7 vaccination schemes and in PCV7 use. High vaccine uptake was not always related to the presence of a national vaccination programme.

We investigated the chemical and immunologic properties of a heptavalent vaccine composed of high-molecular-weight polymers of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) O polysaccharides representative of the most common clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We also evaluated the serum antibody response to nonvaccine strains of P. aeruginosa, including strains expressing structural variants (subtype strains) of the O side chain of the vaccine strains. The polyvalent vaccine, prepared under conditions suitable for human use, contained low levels of contaminants and passed preclinical safety and toxicity tests required for human use. Chemical analyses indicated that individual polysaccharides were composed of both O-side chain and core sugars. Following immunization of C3H/HeN mice and New Zealand White rabbits, antibody titers against vaccine components increased between 32- and 200-fold. Antibodies reactive with LPS isolated from smooth and rough nonvaccine strains were also elicited. Analysis of the opsonic activity against the known LPS subtype variants of the vaccine strains revealed a variable pattern of killing, which ranged from opsonic killing of > or = 69% of bacterial cells representing all subtype variants within a serogroup to opsonization of only a minority of the subtype variant strains. Mouse and rabbit immune sera showed different patterns of opsonic activity against subtype strains, indicating that different epitopes on these antigens are immunodominant in the representatives of these two animal species tested. The polyvalent vaccine was effective at eliciting antibodies to vaccine components in mice and rabbits, but it remains to be determined if the current heptavalent formulation contains sufficient components to provoke human antibodies reactive with a majority of clinical strains of P. aeruginosa.

The mucosal vaccination strategy against influenza has been investigated by using influenza virosomal vaccine (IRIV) combined with two different adjuvants: the procholeragenoid (PCG) and the Escherichia coli heat labile toxin (HLT). A comparative study has been carried out on mice administered intranasally with these different formulations of influenza vaccine. PCG appears less effective than HLT in inducing an IgG response, but both the adjuvants elicit mucosal adjuvant activity inducing s-IgA in the upper respiratory tract. On the contrary, only HLT when administered intranasally to mice with influenza virosomes stimulates the production of s-IgA in the lower respiratory tract thereby providing a better protection against primary infection of the respiratory system. Both HLT and PCG enhance the production of IFN- γ in the respiratory tract, nevertheless HLT appears more efficacious as a mucosal adjuvant.

Excerpt Elderly people represent a high risk group in influenza virus infections and yearly vaccination with 1.0 ml of polyvalent vaccine is recommended. Studies in 1960 with 772 elderly persons (m...

To the Editor:— In a previous letter to The Journal (197:153, 1966) we commented upon the protective effect of polyvalent influenza vaccine given to employees of Occidental Life Insurance Company of California in the fall of 1965, as judged by the incidence of disabling respiratory illnesses during an Asian (A2) influenza outbreak in Los Angeles in February and March 1966. The incidence of such illnesses in the immunized group was 7.27% as compared to 13.13% in the nonimmunized employees, indicating a protective effect of about 50%.The annual influenza immunization program has been continued, including the fall of 1968, with the usual polyvalent vaccine, containing the following strains: A2/Japan, A2/Taiwan, A, Al, and B. In December 1968 and January 1969 the Los Angeles area experienced a widespread epidemic of influenza caused by the "Hong Kong" (A2/ Aichi) strain. We again studied our illness absence records to evaluate the degree, if

Influenza A2 vaccine containing 300 chick-cell agglutination (CCA) units per dose of the Hong Kong variant provided a high degree of protection during an outbreak of respiratory illnesses in military personnel in December 1968 and January 1969. This inactivated chicken embryo-propagated virus vaccine stimulated hemagglutination-inhibition antibody responses that were equivalent to natural infection. Polyvalent vaccine, 1967 formula, was not without some contribution in preventing disease in those who did not receive Hong Kong influenza vaccine. Influenza A2 comprised 56% of all respiratory illnesses during the outbreak. Virus was isolated in rhesus monkey kidney cultures from pharyngeal washings of a third of the individuals with serologic evidence of infection by influenza A2.