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The study was performed to evaluate the effects of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines administered alone or in combination. 124 elderly subjects living in community were vaccinated either with influenza split vaccine or with pneumococcal 23-valent or with both vaccines at the same time in different sites. Sera were tested for hemoagglutination inhibiting antibodies for influenza and for antibodies against 23-valent vaccine for streptococcus pneumoniae. No side effects were observed in the vaccinated population. Serological results indicated that influenza vaccine increased significantly antibody levels. No difference was observed between the group which received influenza vaccine alone and that which received influenza and pneumococcal vaccines associated, considering either G.M.T or the percentages of protected individuals or the percentages of subjects who seroconverted. When pneumococcal vaccine was administered at the same time with influenza vaccine, there was a not statistically significant reduction in both mean antibody concentration and mean fold increase. It is concluded that the simultaneous administration of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines to elderly individuals, including subjects at risk, is safe, effective and economically advantageous.

The study was performed to evaluate the effects of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines administered alone or in combination. 124 elderly subjects living in community were vaccinated either with influenza split vaccine or with pneumococcal 23-valent or with both vaccines at the same time in different sites. Sera were tested for hemoagglutination inhibiting antibodies for influenza and for antibodies against 23-valent vaccine for streptococcus pneumoniae. No side effects were observed in the vaccinated population. Serological results indicated that influenza vaccine increased significantly antibody levels. No difference was observed between the group which received influenza vaccine alone and that which received influenza and pneumococcal vaccines associated, considering either G.M.T or the percentages of protected individuals or the percentages of subjects who seroconverted. When pneumococcal vaccine was administered at the same time with influenza vaccine, there was a not statistically significant reduction in both mean antibody concentration and mean fold increase. It is concluded that the simultaneous administration of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines to elderly individuals, including subjects at risk, is safe, effective and economically advantageous.

This report describes two children with undetectable serum levels of IgA1, IgG2, IgG4, and IgE due to a homozygous deletion encompassing the A1-E genes. The father is a heterozygous carrier of the same deletion and the mother a heterozygous compound carrying the deletion on one chromosome and duplication on the other. In both children, serum IgG, IgG1, and IgG3 were higher than in normal children and IgG antibody response to tetanus toxoid and polysaccharide antigens was normal with increased IgG1 and IgG3 response compared to controls. The latter can be interpreted as a compensatory mechanism for the subclass deficit and may explain the lack of significant infections in both children. The importance of distinguishing IgG subclass deficiency due to gene deletion from that due to immunoregulatory dysfunction is discussed.

A simple apparatus is described which provides a heating rate proportional to the square of the absolute temperature (T2). The apparatus is based on a Wheatstone bridge having a platinum heating coil in one arm and a variable resistor which changes linearly with time in the opposite arm. An example of a recorded glow peak is given and compared to the theoretical curve.