Mass immunization is the blitzkrieg of vaccination practice. It serves to rapidly protect populations, both because of the high coverage achieved and because of the herd immunity thereby induced. However, as in war, mass immunization campaigns must be conducted intelligently, with careful strategy and strong attention to logistics of supply and deployment. If conducted badly, mass immunization may fail or even be counter-productive. In this volume, some of the most successful practitioners of mass im- nization tell us about its art and science. David Heymann and Bruce Aylward of WHO begin the...
Mass immunization is the blitzkrieg of vaccination practice. It serves to rapidly protect populations, both because of the high coverage achieved and ...
The ability to remember an antigenic encounter for several decades, even for a life time, is one of the fundamental properties of the immune system. This phenomenon known as "immunological memory," is the foundation upon which the concept if vaccination rests. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms by which immunological memory is regulated is of paramount importance. Recent advances in immunology, particularly in the field of innate immunity, suggest that the innate immune system plays fundamental roles in influencing immunological memory. Indeed, emerging evidence suggests that events...
The ability to remember an antigenic encounter for several decades, even for a life time, is one of the fundamental properties of the immune system...
Rhabdoviruses have a very wide host range and have been isolated from plants, insects, and almost from all vertebrates including fish and primates. The Rhabdoviridae family consists of six genera which have all been associated with diseases. While rhabdoviruses that are etiological agents of human diseases can cause serious public health problems, other members of this family that infect domestic livestock and agricultural plants can also cause enormous economic loss.
Rhabdoviruses have a very wide host range and have been isolated from plants, insects, and almost from all vertebrates including fish and primates....
This mechanism of programmed cell death plays an important role in normal development and control of cell numbers in mature animals. stimuli and is highly regulated both by molecules that facilitate and by molecules that inhibit the process. is a useful way for the host to eliminate infected cells, decreasing the likelihood of spread of the infection to neighboring cells and preventing pathogen persistence. host is harmed by a pathogen.
This mechanism of programmed cell death plays an important role in normal development and control of cell numbers in mature animals. stimuli and is hi...
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been recognized in printed records dating from the sixteenth century, and since the eradication of rinderpest (cattle plague) in the early part of the twentieth century it has been rec- nized as the most important and feared disease of cattle and other dom- tic livestock. The beginning of the twenty-first century brought the worst outbreak of FMD ever experienced in England, which had been completely free of the disease for 33 years. This tragic epidemic, which spread to Northern Ireland, Scotland, France and the Netherlands with severe e- nomic consequences,...
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) has been recognized in printed records dating from the sixteenth century, and since the eradication of rinderpest (cattle...
Viruses are major pathogens in humans, and in the organisms with which we share this planet. The massive health and economic burden these agents impose has spurred a huge research effort to understand their most intimate details. One outcome of this effort has been the production, in many but certainly not all cases, of effective vaccines and therapies. - other consequence has been the realization that we can exploit viruses and put them to work on our behalf. Viruses are still seen to have the most - tential as vehicles for gene delivery and other therapeutic applications. However, their...
Viruses are major pathogens in humans, and in the organisms with which we share this planet. The massive health and economic burden these agents impos...
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has become the most publicly recognizable example of a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by proteinaceous infectious particles called prions. The contributors to this volume, all internationally recognized experts in their fields, provide an introduction to prion biology, followed by reviews of the latest information on BSE, vCJD, and chronic wasting disease, an animal prion disease that has recently emerged in North America.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has become the most publicly recognizable example of a group of fatal neurodegenerative diseases caused by p...
TOR, the Target of Rapamycin was discovered a little over ten years ago in a genetic screen in S. cerevisiae in search of mutants resistant to the cytostatic effects of the antimycotic, rapamycin. Recent studies have placed TOR at the interface between nutrient sensing and the regulation of major anbolic and catabolic responses. The editors have gathered the leading figures in the field of TOR and its role in cellular homeostasis and human diseases.
TOR, the Target of Rapamycin was discovered a little over ten years ago in a genetic screen in S. cerevisiae in search of mutants res...
Xenotransplantation could have an impact on at least three aspects of medicine. The first is as a means of overcoming a severe shortage of human donor organs for the treatment of organ failure. The second aspect relates to the possibility that a xenogeneic organ would not be susceptible to infection by a "human" virus and thus the xenograft might resist injury caused by such viruses. The third and, as of yet, unexplored aspect relates to a means of delivering genes for therapeutic purposes thus overcoming some of the limitations of "conventional" gene therapy.
Xenotransplantation could have an impact on at least three aspects of medicine. The first is as a means of overcoming a severe shortage of human do...
Mammalian reovirus had been the major focus for molecular understanding of the Reoviridae and has served as a model system for the other members of the family. Indeed, most of our initial understanding of molecular biology and processes involved in virus replication and pathogenesis for the members of the family was generated from reovirus studies. With this platform two other members of the family causing disease in human and/or animals have gained in prominence and the molecular interactions from a structural level through to host-virus interactions as well as the function of the...
Mammalian reovirus had been the major focus for molecular understanding of the Reoviridae and has served as a model system for the other members of...