Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019163 (hepatitis B)
 38,309 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

International travel has increased enormously in recent years. With the greater movement of people have come increased encounters with a wide variety of diseases: malaria, dengue, cholera, typhoid fever, Ebola virus, and many more. The need for greater scope, consistency, and knowledgeability in pretravel health care to meet these challenges has been met by the emergence of the discipline of travel medicine. Travelers are well advised to become informed of the risks they face and to take steps to minimize those risks. After reviewing a traveler's medical history and a detailed itinerary, a travel medicine practitioner can offer expert advice on behavioral modifications, immunizations, and chemoprophylaxis regimens which will increase the traveler's margin of safety. The issues most frequently addressed in a travel clinic include treatment of traveler's diarrhea, malaria chemoprophylaxis, and immunizations, for hepatitis A, typhoid fever, tetanus/diphtheria, influenza, pneumococcus, hepatitis B, polio, meningococcus, measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and rabies. Pretravel consultation must consider the age and underlying health problems of the traveler, the nature of the trip (wilderness, jungle, rural, urban, resort, or cruise), the duration of travel, and the latest available information on the site in terms of disease outbreaks, terrorism, and natural calamities.
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PMID:A week in the life of a travel clinic. 933 67

DNA immunization is a relatively new and efficacious approach to vaccination. Only recently have we begun to test the efficacy of DNA vaccines in infants. DNA vaccines for a retrovirus, hepatitis B, influenza, rabies, measles, tetanus toxoid, and sendai virus, have now been proven to induce cellular and humoral immune responses in infant animals. Here we review the field of DNA immunization of newborn animals, some new promising immunization strategies, and the rapid progress obtained in this field.
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PMID:DNA immunization of infants: potential and limitations. 971 86

Travelers' immunization has 2 aims: for the traveler, to prevent the risk of contracting an endemic disease during his stay abroad; for the community to prevent the risk of importing an infectious agent yet unknown in the country. Travelling offers an opportunity to update routine immunizations: tetanus, diphtheria, poliomyelitis, hepatitis B; for young people: measles and rubella; for elderly people: influenza. Two vaccinations are compulsory: yellow fever for travelers to tropical Africa and Amazonian forest; meningococcus A + C for Mecca pilgrims. Other vaccines are recommended for travelers to specific areas: typhoid fever, hepatitis A, cholera in countries with poor hygiene; rabies for exposed travelers (expatriates, trekkers...); Japanese encephalitis for persons spending a month or longer in rural agricultural areas during the monsoon season; tickborne encephalitis for persons visiting forested areas of central Europe from may to september. Yet, most of travelers' diseases such as malaria cannot be prevented by vaccination and appropriate preventive measures (chemoprophylaxis and protection against insects) should be taken.
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PMID:[Vaccinations of the traveller]. 985 43

Reviews published reports on the progress in development of DNA vaccines protecting from viral diseases. Emphasizes the advantages of the preparation injection into the epidermis and the possibility of stimulating the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines with adjuvants and cytokines. Discusses the results of studies on the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines from human, simian, and feline immunodeficiency viruses, hepatitis B and C viruses, herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, influenza and measles viruses, rotavirus, rabies virus, foot-and-mouth disease virus, etc., and the safety of DNA vaccines.
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PMID:[Progress in developing viral polynucleotide (DNA) vaccines]. 1050 Sep 80

At the time the Swiss Serum and Vaccine Institute Berne (BERNA) was found in 1898, few vaccines or immune globulins were available. This short list included vaccines against cholera, typhoid fever, plague, smallpox and rabies and equine anti-tetanus and diphtheria immune globulins. Furthermore, their use was restricted due to limited production capacity, uncertainty regarding safety and no public health infrastructure to promote their utilization. Today, safe and effective vaccines exist for more than 30 infectious diseases while human hyperimmune globulins exist to treat or prevent rabies, tetanus, respiratory syncytial virus, cytomegalovirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and herpes virus (Varicella zoster) infections. Throughout its 100 years of existence, BERNA has played a key role in the evolution of the field by introducing novel technology leading to safer, and more efficacious vaccines. It was a pioneer in the development of freeze dried smallpox vaccine free from bacterial contamination. The Salmonella typhi Ty21a typhoid fever vaccine strain demonstrated that oral immunization against enteric bacterial pathogens was not only feasible, but could be accomplished with a virtual lack of attendant adverse reactions. This finding has served as an impetus to develop other live attenuated bacterial strains not only as vaccines, but also as vectors for vaccine antigens and gene therapy. One such example is Vibrio cholerae CVD 103-HgR, the first live vaccine for human use derived through recombinant DNA technology. Subsequent studies have shown that these two vaccine strains can be combined without sacrificing safety or immunogenicity, setting the cornerstone for combined orally administered vaccines. Recently, a novel vaccine antigen delivery system, termed virosomes, has been utilized to construct hepatitis A and influenza vaccines. Such vaccines elicit fewer local adverse reactions than their classical counterparts and display enhanced immunogenicity. Virosome-formulated influenza vaccine has also been shown to be safe and immunogenic, when administered by the intranasal route.
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PMID:BERNA: a century of immunobiological innovation. 1050 2

Oman is generally hot and dry, but the Salalah region in southern Dhofar province is relatively cool and rainy during the summer monsoon, and has a distinctive pattern of infection. Important, notifiable infections in Oman include tuberculosis, brucellosis (endemic in Dhofar), acute gastroenteritis, and viral hepatitis: 4.9% of the adults are seropositive for hepatitis B surface antigen and approximately 1.2% for hepatitis C virus. Infection with human immunodeficiency virus is uncommon, and leprosy, rabies, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever are rare. Between 1990 and 1998, the incidence of malaria, (>70% due to Plasmodium falciparum) decreased from 32,700 to 882 cases. Cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis (caused by Leishmania tropica and L. infantum, respectively) and Bancroftian filariasis occur sporadically. Intestinal parasitism ranges from 17% to 42% in different populations. A solitary focus of schistosomiasis mansoni in Dhofar has been eradicated. There are major programs for the elimination of tuberculosis, leprosy, and malaria, and to control brucellosis, leishmaniasis, sexually transmitted diseases, trachoma, acute respiratory infection in children, and diarrheal diseases. The Expanded Program on Immunization was introduced in 1981: diphtheria, neonatal tetanus, and probably poliomyelitis have been eliminated.
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PMID:Infectious and tropical diseases in Oman: a review. 1067 71

Vast changes are taking place in vaccinology consequent to the introduction of new technologies. Amongst the vaccines included in the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI), the pertussis vaccine has been replaced by acellular purified fractions devoid of side-effects. Non-pathogenic but immunogenic mutants of tetanus and diptheria toxins are likely to replace the toxoids. An effective vaccine against hepatitis B prepared by recombinant technology is in large-scale use. Conjugated vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae b, S. pneumococcus and meningococcus are now available, as also vaccines against mumps, rubella and measles. Combination vaccines have been devised to limit the number of injections. Vaccine delivery systems have been developed to deliver multiple doses of the vaccine at a single contact point. A genetically-engineered oral vaccine for typhoid imparts better and longer duration of immunity. Oral vaccines for cholera and other enteric infections are under clinical trials. The nose as a route for immunization is showing promise for mucosal immunity and for anti-inflammatory experimental vaccines against multiple sclerosis and insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The range of vaccines has expanded to include pathogens resident in the body such as Helicobacter pylori (duodenal ulcer), S. mutans (dental caries), and human papilloma virus (carcinoma of the cervix). An important progress is the recognition that DNA alone can constitute the vaccines, inducing both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. A large number of DNA vaccines have been made and shown interesting results in experimental animals. Live recombinant vaccines against rabies and rinderpest have proven to be highly effective for controlling these infections in the field, and those for AIDS are under clinical trial. Potent adjuvants have added to the efficacy of the vaccines. New technologies have emerged to 'humanize' mouse monoclonals by genetic engineering and express these efficiently in plants. These recombinant antibodies are opening out an era of highly specific and safe therapeutic interventions. Human recombinant antibodies would be invaluable for treating patients with terminal tetanus and rabies. Antibodies are already in use for treatment of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and allergies. An advantage of preformed antibodies directed at a defined target and given in adequate amounts is the certainty of efficacy in every recipient, in contrast to vaccines, where the quality and quantum of immune response varies from individual to individual.
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PMID:The impact of new technologies on vaccines. 1073 30

This paper reviews current use and evolving role of polyclonal and monoclonal antibody products for the prevention and treatment of viral diseases. Antibodies continue to be indicated for prophylaxis either prior to an anticipated exposure especially in situations of travel, or more commonly following an exposure. The predominant indication for use of antibody products is to prevent infection. With the availability of vaccines for the prevention of chickenpox, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, measles, rabies and smallpox, the role of passive immunization is reserved for susceptible individuals and those at high risk for complications of infection. Risks of transmission of infections associated with use of human plasma-derived products have been reduced by improvements in donor screening and virus removal and inactivation procedures. An additional safety concern has been addressed by the removal of thimerosal as a preservative. Within the last 5 years, two antibodies have been licensed for a viral indication, RespiGam and Synagis both for prevention of respiratory syncytial virus infection. RespiGam is a human plasma derived antibody and Synagis is a humanized monoclonal antibody, the first such antibody to be licensed for an infectious disease indication. CytoGam for prevention of cytomegalovirus infection in kidney transplant patients has recently been granted an expanded indication to include use in lung, liver, pancreas and heart transplant patients. As the use of therapeutics becomes more sophisticated, researchers may find better ways of using antibody products.
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PMID:Antibodies for the prevention and treatment of viral diseases. 1099 94

Antibodies have been used for over a century in the prevention and treatment of infectious disease. They are used most commonly for the prevention of measles, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, tetanus, varicella, rabies, and vaccinia. Although their use in the treatment of bacterial infection has largely been supplanted by antibiotics, antibodies remain a critical component of the treatment of diptheria, tetanus, and botulism. High-dose intravenous immunoglobulin can be used to treat certain viral infections in immunocompromised patients (e.g., cytomegalovirus, parvovirus B19, and enterovirus infections). Antibodies may also be of value in toxic shock syndrome, Ebola virus, and refractory staphylococcal infections. Palivizumab, the first monoclonal antibody licensed (in 1998) for an infectious disease, can prevent respiratory syncytial virus infection in high-risk infants. The development and use of additional monoclonal antibodies to key epitopes of microbial pathogens may further define protective humoral responses and lead to new approaches for the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.
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PMID:Passive immunity in prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. 1102 60

This review describes a long-standing experience of screening for interferon (IFN) inducers in Russia. IFN inducers represent a special group of potential antiviral compounds. The main requirements for them are (1) high IFN-inducing activity, (2) absence of side effects, (3) wide spectrum of antimicrobial activity, (4) broad therapeutic security and, (5) good solubility in water and biologic liquids. IFN inducers stimulate IFN production in different cells and organs, and that determines the strategy for their application. Amixin (OOO "Lancepharm," Moscow, Russia) induces IFN-alpha/beta production mostly in T cells. Cycloferon (NTFF "Polysan," St. Petersburg, Russia) stimulates B cells and macrophages to produce almost pure IFN-alpha. Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and polyphenols of natural origin stimulate IFN production in different populations of immunocytes. Only polymers, such as Larifan (Riga, Latvia), Kagocel ("NIARnedicplus," Moscow, Russia), and Ragosin (N.F. Gamaleya Institute, Moscow, Russia), induce IFN synthesis in muscles, so they may be effective against rabies. Cycloferon, Larifan, and Kagocel, which induce IFN formation in lungs, may be effective against influenza and rhinoviral infections. Cycloferon and Larifan stimulate IFN production in liver and spleen and may be effective against hepatitis B. Oral compounds (Amixin, Kagocel) that stimulate IFN production in intestines may be effective against hepatitis A and enteroviral infections. Low molecular weight inducers (Amixin, Cycloferon, Kagocel) that penetrate the blood-brain barrier may be active against viral encephalitis. At present, clinical trials of IFN inducers are limited, but in the near future, IFN inducers may be used against very different infections and conditions.
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PMID:Russian experience in screening, analysis, and clinical application of novel interferon inducers. 1124 70


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