Showing papers on "Measles published in 1976"

Enzyme-immunoassays for antibodies in measles, cytomegalovirus infections and after rubella vaccination.

Abstract: Enzyme-immunoassays using an indirect method with alkaline phosphatase conjugated antiglobulins were satisfactory for detection of antibody to Measles and Cytomegalovirus. The antigen was passively adsorbed to polystyrene micro-harmagglutination plates for the assays. IgM antibody to Rubella was also detected by enzyme-immunoassay at 7 and 28 days after vaccination in a person who had negative Rubella serology before vaccination. IgG antibody was detected at those times in another patient who had positive Rubella serology prior to vaccination. The enzyme immunoassays appear to have the potential for routine laboratory use for virological diagnosis.

Atypical measles infections in leukaemic children on immunosuppressive treatment.

Abstract: One case of giant-cell pneumonia and two of encephalopathy, all due to measles infection in children in leukaemic remission on immunosuppressive treatment, were seen recently. The clinical syndromes were variable and atypical and the antibody responses unpredictable. Conventional doses of pooled immunoglobulin failed to protect the two children to whom it was given. Degeneration rather than inflammation seems to characterise the encephalopathy in immunosuppressed children infected with measles virus.

Xerophtalmia and measles in Kenya

Abstract: In many African countries measles is considered to be an important cause of blindness. On the basis of his observations in Kenya and Tanzania in 1972 Franken presumed, however, that in the majority of these cases xerophthalmia was the real cause of blindness, precipitated by the "catalyst" measles. In order to gain a better understanding of this important complicated problem, we performed in the first half of 1974 an investigation in Kenya into the prevalence of xerophthalmia. In December 1974 we had the opportunity to evaluate our Kenyan findings on Java, in the company of Dr. J. ten Doesschate and Professor H.A.P.C. Oomen. The results of this investigation in Kenya and Indonesia are presented in this thesis. (see article) 1. Xerophthalmia occurred nearly everywhere in Kenya in 1974. This demonstrates the prevalence of xerophthalmia in communities which - do not have rice but - have maize for their staplefood. 2. Xerophthalmia appears to be the main cause of blindness in Kenyan children. 3. Measles often plays - by means of local and general "catalysing" effects - an important role in the development of blindness caused by xerophthalmia. 4. In well-nourished children measles is of no consequence as a cause of blindness. 5. Vital staining by 1% rose bengal or 1% lissamine green appears to be a real asset for the early diagnosis of xerophthalmia in Health Centres and in field surveys. This method is therefore of great importance for the prevention of severe, blindness inducing vitamin A deficiency.

Etiology of respiratory tract infections in children in Cali, Colombia.

Abstract: One hundred eighty children hospitalized for acute respiratory disease were studied in Cali, Colombia. In the majority of patients, pneumonia was the reason for hospitalization and remained the final diagnosis. Fifty-one cases of pneumonia of indeterminate etiology comprised the largest single diagnostic category, followed by 38 cases of pneumonia associated with measles, and 22 cases associated with serologic evidence of infection with other viral agents or Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Etiologic diagnosis could be assigned with a reasonable degree of confidence in 116 of the 180 patients (64%). The laboratory procedure found most likely to provide the etiologic diagnosis in this series was paired sera specimens for demonstration of rise in antibody titer against the common viral respiratory pathogens. Those most frequently implicated serologically as etiologic agents in the cases studied were, in order of decreasing frequency, measles, influenza, parainfluenza, and adenoviruses.

Crippling lung disease after measles and adenovirus infection

Abstract: Four children who developed severe lung disease after measles are described. One child died and three have been left with severe impairment of lung function. It is suggested that secondary infection with an adenovirus was responsible for causing the lung disease in these patients. The immune response to measles was abnormal. Measles virus may have rendered the children more susceptible to serious complications from infection with the adenovirus. The many deaths from ‘measles pneumonia’ in developing countries and the occasional occurrence of post-measles bronchiectasis in this country may be due to secondary adenovirus infections. Further viral and serological studies are required to confirm this hypothesis.

RNA homology between subacute sclerosing panencephalitis and measles viruses.

Abstract: VIROLOGICAL and immunological studies in subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE) have associated this disease with measles virus1,2. Measles-like virus (referred to as SSPE virus) has been isolated from brain material of patients with SSPE and all SSPE patients reveal an hyperimmune reaction to measles virus antigen. In spite of these major findings the aetiology and pathogenicity of SSPE is still not understood, and the rarity and rural prevalence of this disease remain unexplained3. If measles virus is involved then additional factors either host or virus dependent, must determine the disease since the occurrence of measles virus and its acute infection cannot be correlated with SSPE. So far, no major host factor, either immunological or genetic, has been discovered which would answer these questions4.

Rapid Detection of Measles Virus III Skin Rashes by Immunofluorescence

Abstract: Specific immunofluorescence was used to detect measles virus antigen in skin rashes. Cryostat sections of punch-biopsy specimens of the skin were stained with use of hyperimmune rabbit and horse antisera to measles virus conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate. Preimmune rabbit and horse antisera to measles virus, also conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate, served as controls. Measles virus was specifically demonstrated in 20 of 21 biopsy specimens taken within four days after the onset of exanthema. Measles virus antigen was also found in three of five biopsy specimens from nonexanthematous skin during the first four days of the exanthematous phase. The viral antigen was found in single cells or in clusters of cells in the surface epithelium, skin appendages, and corium. No viral antigen was detected in biopsy specimens taken five to six days after the onset of rash.

Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis: an epidemiologic study in israel

Abstract: Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a disease related to measles (rubeola) infection, was more common in Arabs and Sephardi Jews than in Ashkenazi Jews in Israel. There were no familial aggregates and it is unlikely that genetic differences account for this selectivity. Among several non-genetic factors which might explain the selectivity, family size emerged as a possible risk factor. Family size has not previously been suspected as influencing the risk of SSPE. Preponderance of SSPE in rural areas and among the poor would also be compatible with this idea as family size tends to be larger in rural and lower socioeconomic groups. In large families, there may be a greater change that older siblings will transmit measles to very young siblings. In small families, measles may be acquired from peers at about school age when risk of SSPE may be lower.

Booster vaccination with further live attenuated measles vaccine

Abstract: Revaccination with live attenuated measles vaccine was evaluated in a large group of children to determine (1) if protective antibody to measles infection could be augmented and (2) after what interval will the revaccination yield optimal results. The rate of decline in measles hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibody was observed to be directly related to the time interval since the previous vaccination, and individuals with declining titers became increasingly responsive to revaccination with a maximal response approximately four to six years after previous vaccination. Six-month follow-up studies demonstrated sustained elevations in measles HI antibody titers. Measles-neutralizing antibody showed less tendency to sustain a titer increase after revaccination. These observations suggest that revaccination with live, further attenuated measles vaccine is safe and may augment immunity. ( JAMA 235:31-34, 1976)

Evaluation of a mass measles immunization campaign in Yaoundé, Cameroun

Abstract: A mass measles immunization campaign carried out in Yaounde, Cameroun, has been evaluated. Sixty per cent of the children were immune to measles at the time of the campaign. Only 51 % of the susceptible children received vaccine. This was caused by a lack of attendance at the vaccination centres and errors in the selection of children given vaccine. The vaccine administered was relatively ineffective: 40% seroconversion. Difficulties which probably contributed to the low seroconversion rate included sub-optimal vaccine titre, inadequate doses of vaccine, and the relatively long time of vaccine utilization under tropical temperatures. Overall, 83 % of the vaccine given to the vaccinating team was wasted. Future immunization campaigns can be improved through better screening of the children, improved handling of the vaccine, the use of marker vaccines, and improved health education.

Measles antibodies as related to HL‐A types in multiple sclerosis

Abstract: One hundred thirty-six patients with multiple sclerosis and several control groups were studied for measles antibodies using several different antigens. Measles antibodies were higher in the multiple sclerosis population, but siblings also had higher titers than matched and random controls. The elevation in antibody titers (complement fixation) was found in female multiple sclerosis patients and male patients with HL-A types 3, 7, and W-18. Male patients not carrying these HL-A antigens had, as a group, relatively normal antibody levels. These data confirm a familial factor in elevated measles antibody titers. We suggest that HL-A antigens are linked to one of the factors that determines measles antibody titers in multiple sclerosis patients.

Acute and Chronic Infection of Human Lymphoblastoid Cell Lines with Measles Virus

Abstract: Several human continuous lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) having T or B characteristics were infected with low and high passage strains of measles virus. All of the cell lines were susceptible to one or the other or to both strains of measles virus with the production of typical syncytial giant cells and released cell-free infectious virus into the supernatant medium. There was no consistent pattern of susceptibility of LCL with either T or B characteristics to infection by measles virus. Viral induced cytolysis of the lymphoblastoid cells in many of the lines was marked, but in the LCL that could be maintained over longer periods of time, a state of chronic, less cytolytic and persistent infection could be established. The infection was characterized by the production of moderate amounts of cell-free infectious virus for up to 4½ months after initial infection with little change in the number of viable cells in culture. Long-term low multiplicity of infection (MOI) experiments demonstrated that the cell-free infectious virus was being produced only by a small number of cells, but the majority of cells in culture contained measles antigen that was in a cell-restricted, noninfectious, or defective form. Electron microscopic examination of the chronically infected cells demonstrated that many of them contained aggregates of hollow tubular intranuclear nucleocapsids whose “stripped” appearance was in marked contrast to the larger granular intracytoplasmic nucleocapsids found during earlier stages of infection. It is theorized that the persistent infection of LCL may serve as a model in understanding the immune mechanisms which permit latent and chronic measles infection in man.

Measles inclusion-body encephalitis in a child with treated acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Abstract: A child with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, being treated in the UKALL II Trial, had while in remission an attack of measles and made a normal recovery. Four months later she developed an acute encephalopathy and died within two weeks. The brain showed mild inflammatory features and widespread inclusion bodies in neurones and glial cells. Immunofluorescence proved an infection with measles virus. Similar cases have been called SSPE; reasons are given for preferring the term "measles inclusion-body encephalitis".

HLA and the immune response to measles in multiple sclerosis

Abstract: No. 20 HLA and the immune response to measles in multiple sclerosis LAWRENCE W. MYERS, GEORGE W. ELLISON, and MONA E. FEWSTER Department of Neurology, Reed Neurological Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles PAUL TERASAKI and GERHARD O P E U Department of Surgery, University of California, Los Angeles pidemiologic data strongly implicate an enviTable 1. Frequency of HLA-DW2, HLA-A3, and ronmental factor in the etiology of multiple sclerosis. At present a virus(es) is the leading candidate as that factor. The finding that the frequency of certain human leukocyte antigens (HLA) is increased in multiple sclerosis gives support to the speculation that one may inherit a susceptibility to develop multiple sclerosis. Jersild and associates' reported from Denmark that the lymphocyte def ined (LD) determinant , LD-7a (HLA-DW2 as defined by WHO Committee for Histocompatibility Testing, 1975) occurred in 70 percent of patients with multiple sclerosis and 16 percent of the general population. They also reported that multiple sclerosis patients with LD-7a had a more rapid progression of their disease. They suggested that the LD-7a determinant is linked to the immune response determinant. The inheritance of LD-7a would then lead to the inheritance of an immune system that has an impairment of cellular immunity and an increased humoral immunity. This aberration in the immune response could lead to certain persistent viral illnesses. This hypothesis has been investigated at the UCLA Multiple Sclerosis Research Clinic. Serologically defined HLA testing was performed with the microcytotoxicity assay.* DW2 lymphocytes were identified by using homozygous stimulator cells in a one-way mixed lymphocyte c ~ l t u r e . ~ ~ ~ A highly significant association was found for DW2 and multiple sclerosis (table 1 ). There was also a significant correlation for A3 and multiple sclerosis but no significant correlation for B7 and multiple sclerosis. As shown in table 2, there is a significant association between DW2, A3 and B7. Patients with DW2 tended to have a more progressive and disabling course, but this did not reach statistical significance. HLA-B7 in patients with multiple sclerosis and normal individuals E Table 2. Relationship of HLA-DW2, HLA-A3 and HLA-B7 in multiple sclerosis 54 Neurology, June 1976 Part 2 Table 3. Relationship between measles hemagglutination inhibiting (HI 1 antibody titers and HLA in multiple sclerosis and normal individuals Table 4. Relationship between migration index (MI) to measles and HLA in multiple sclerosis and normal individuals Measles hemagglutinating antibody titers were measured by the method of Schmidt and Lennette.s The frequency of an elevated titer (> 1:64) was greater in the multiple sclerosis patients (34/107 or 32 percent) than in the normal controls (6/70 = 9 percent). There was a significant correlation between the elevated antibody titers and A3 but not with DW2 or B7 (table 3). Cell mediated immunity to measles was measured using the leukocyte migration inhibition test.6 The mean migration index for 28 normal individuals was 81 +2 (SEM). The mean migration index for 47 multiple sclerosis patients was 87? 1, p < 0.02 (Student’s t test). There was no significant relationship between the cell mediated immune response to measles and DW2, A3, or B7 (table 4). From these data we note a significant association of multiple sclerosis with HLA-A3 and DW2. There is an increased frequency of elevated antibody titers and impaired cell mediated immune response to measles in multiple sclerosis. We found no evidence for a linkage between the DW2 determinant and the multiple sclerosis patients’ immune response to measles.

Measles in Adults: An Unforeseen Consequence of Immunization?

Abstract: An outbreak of measles occurred in California in the first half of 1975, especially in the San Francisco Bay area. Of four adult patients with complicated cases, two were receiving immunosuppressive chemotherapy, and both died from a giant-cell pneumonia. The clinical presentation in such cases may be atypical, and special viral isolation and immunofluorescent techniques may be diagnostically helpful. A significant (P (JAMA236:1028-1031, 1976)

Virus peneumonia following measles: a virological and histological study of autopsy material.

Abstract: Adenovirus, measles virus and herpesvirus were found to be responsible for the serious non-bacterial bronchiolar and interstitial necrosis in post-measles pneumonia in underprivileged non-White children less than 4 years of age in Cape Town.

A measles epizootic with 5 deaths in newly-imported rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Abstract: Of 21 newly-imported rhesus monkeys, 11 showed a typical macular rash and 13 developed a 4-fold or greater rise in antibody titre to measles. 5 animals died, 4 of them with extensive pneumonia, pleurisy and pericarditis. Although measles was involved in each case, there were contributory causes of death, namely Diplococcus pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus infection, and infestation with Oesophagostomum (nodular worm) larvae.

Measles virus-specific IgD antibodies in patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis.

Abstract: Indirect immunofluorescent analysis revealed that sera from five patients with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis possessed IgD antibodies directed against measles virus components in persistently infected HeLa cells. IgD levels in these sera were within the normal range. Control studies indicated that the reaction was specific for measles virus. The detection of IgD measles antibodies in these patients suggested that IgD may be involved in the pathogenesis of this viral disease.

An unusual occurrence of multiple sclerosis in a small rural community.

Abstract: Ten patients with multiple sclerosis were found to have lived in close proximity in a Nova Scotia farming community of 150 people. All had drunk unpasteurized milk as children, were teetotallers, ate a high animal fat diet, and were well educated. Of greater interest was the observation that six of the ten cases were related in two family groups. The only time all patients lived in the community at the same time was in 1951 and 1952 during a polio outbreak. The relationship of polio to multiple sclerosis bears further study. The average age of the patients when they had measles was 11.8 years. Evidence suggests a link between risk of multiple sclerosis and both late onset of measles and pubertal age. Late onset of measles may be important in this cluster. Further epidemiological studies are needed to examine the age of onset of measles in M.S. cases.

A longitudinal study on antibodies to measles and rubella viruses in patients with multiple sclerosis. A preliminary report.

Abstract: Increased levels of antibodies to measles virus in serum specimens of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and local production of these antibodies in the central nervous system (CNS) of these patients have heen observed hy many research groups ( S a l m i 1973) . The implications of these ohservationb are unknown a t the present time. For instance, i t is not known whether there is any fluctuation in the production of measles antibodies in blS patients o r whether the antibody titers have any correlation with the clinical course of the disease in individual patients. It has heen suggested earlier that rubella virus might have some connection with MS (Salrni 1973) . The recent demonstration of some SSPE-like diseases having an evident rubella etiology fur ther supports the idea that ruhella virus could he one of the agents relevant to the etiology of hIS (TocunscJnd e t al. 1975) . In order t o collect information about the possible relationship hetween the disease coursc and virus antibody titers, a group of MS patients have been under close surveillance since 1970. The clinical course of the disease in this group of MS patients has been closely followed hy the Department of Neurology, Cniversity of Oulu, Finland. Serum and cerebrospinal f luid (CSF) specimens from the patients collected a t regular intervals are stored a t 40\" C in the Department of Virology, University of Turku, Finland. The results of this report are based on studies of specimens collccted during the first 3 years of the surveillance period. The purpose of this work was to confirm and extend earlier reports on local antibody production against rubella virus in the CNS of some MS patients (Norrb!] e f al. 1974) and to describe the finding of relatively stable antibody ti ters to measles and ruhella viruses during the course of the MS disease.

Cell-mediated immunity and age at vaccination associated with measles inoculation and protection of dogs against canine distemper.

Abstract: The antibody-mediated immune response (AMIR) of dogs to measles and canine distemper viruses has been described. However, there is little information on the cell-mediated immune response (CMIR). The AMIR and the CMIR of dogs to canine distemper and to measles were examined. The CMIR was determined for 6 weeks by measuring the 3H-thymidine uptake by immune lymphocytes in the lymphocyte transformation test. Concurrently, canine distemper and measles virus serum-neutralization antibodies were measured by a microtitration serum-neutralization test. Dogs vaccinated with canine distemper virus had a CMIR and an AMIR to canine distemper. However, measles virus-vaccinated dogs had only a CMIR to canine distemper. A CMIR in the absence of an AMIR indicates that cell-mediated immunity is the most important immune mechanism in protecting measles virus-vaccinated dogs against canine distemper. Development of CMIR and AMIR to canine distemper and measles antigens depended on the age of the dog at the time of vaccination. Adult and juvenile dogs had immune responses to both canine distemper and measles. Neither virus, however, elicited an immune response in neonates.

Transient appearance of oligoclonal immunoglobulins and measles virus antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid in a case of acute measles encephalitis.

Abstract: Acute measles encephalitis with severe sequelae in a 25-year-old man was studied. A transient appearance of oligoclonal IgG in cerebrospinal fluid and of intrathecally produced measles antibodies was found during 2 months after the onset of the disease. On the basis of this finding of local hyperimmunization it is proposed that in the case studied the measles virus infection may have been directly responsible for the disease process in the central nervous system.

Measles antibodies and autoantibodies in autoimmune disorders.

Abstract: Measles CF antibodies have been examined in the sera of patients with a variety of clinical disorders associated with the production of autoantibodies. Previous reports of high-titre reactions in DLE and chronic active hepatitis have been confirmed, the titres in the latter disorder being particularly elevated. Mean antibody titres to measles in patients with rheumatoid arthritis were significantly lower than in matched controls, and an inverse correlation between measles antibody levels and serum globulin levels was found. Measles antibody titres in patients with myasthenia gravis and primary biliary cirrhosis did not differ significantly from those found in controls. However, subdivision of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, myasthenia gravis and primary biliary cirrhosis showed that the presence of anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) was associated with significantly increased measles antibody levels compared with the ANA-negative sera. The presence of gastric parietal cell antibody or thyroid microsomal antibody did not appear to be associated with increased measles antibody levels, whether or not they occurred in association with previous anaemia or thyroid disease. Possible explanations for these findings in terms of immune complex formation and immune hyper-reactivity are discussed.

Exaggerated natural measles following attenuated virus immunization.

Abstract: An adolescent girl, devoid of a detectable humoral immunity to measles virus despite two inoculations of live, attenuated vaccine, developed an exaggerated atypical rubeola illness following exposure to wild virus. This observation suggests that attenuated virus may be capable of immunologically sensitizing some individuals as has been described with killed virus vaccine.

Measles vaccination. VIII. The occurrence of antibodies against virus envelope components after immunization with inactivated vaccine. Effects of revaccination with live measles vaccine.

Abstract: Children immunized with 4 doses of formalin-inactivated vaccine and/or purified hemagglutinin prepared from Tween 80-ether (TE) treated material were subjected to a follow-up 8-9 years after the last dose of vaccine. 11 out of 27 children had clinical and/or serological signs of infections with wild measles virus during the 8 to 9 years post-booster period. 10 out of the 11 children with infections had non-hemagglutinating-inhibiting (HI) hemolysis-inhibiting (HLI) antibodies demonstrable in their sera after removal of HI antibodies by absorption with TE antigen. In contrast 13 out of 16 vaccinees without detectable signs of infection lacked non-HI HLI antibodies. 10 out of these 13 children were vaccinated with further attenuated live measles virus. There were no clinical reactions to faccination. 4 vaccinees with low pre-vaccination HI antibody titers showed significant rises of antibody titers including non-HI HLI antibodies. In the remaining children no take of the live vaccine could be demonstrated. Thus HI antibodies of a certain minimal concentration can block the replication of vaccine virus even in the absence of non-HI HLI antibodies. However, since it will be difficult to establish these conditions by sue of available inactivated vaccines it is recommended that future vaccine products should include both major virus envelope surface components, the hemagglutinin and the hemolysin.

Age-related immunity to measles, mumps and rubella in middle american and united states children

Abstract: Serum samples from 3000 1 to 15-year-old children residing in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and the Republic of Panama were analyzed for measles, mumps and rubella susceptibility. These data were compared with results obtained on sera drawn from 2221 United States children of similar ages. It was found that children in all areas usually acquired immunity to measles early in life and tended to contract mumps and rubella somewhat later. Immunity data from the urban areas of the United States closely resembled that from the urban areas of the Dominican Republic. Honduran and Panamanian children showed much higher age-related frequencies of rubella, susceptibility. When compared to the other Middle American countries studied, the rural Honduran sample showed significantly higher age-grouped susceptibility rates for measles and simultaneous triple rate revealed a consistent bias, indicating that the attack rates of the three infections are not entirely independent.

The measles eradication programme in the German Democratic Republic.

Abstract: After 3 years of intensive preparations the Ministry of Health of the German Democratic Republic started a national measles eradication programme in 1967. Vaccination was at first voluntary, but became compulsory in 1970. Through a vaccination campaign using Leningrad-16/SSW attenuated live vaccine, the disease was virtually eliminated throughout the country by 1972. In 1973 and 1974 only sporadic cases of measles were observed. The number of vaccination failures was negligible. Combined immunization against measles and poliomyelitis provoked no unusual reactions, and the difference between the seroconversion rates following combined or separate immunization was not statistically significant.