Tetanus News and Research

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Tetanus is a severe, frequently fatal disease caused by an exotoxin produced by Clostridium tetani, a bacterium that is found in the environment. Tetanus is not transmitted from person to person. Rather, Clostridium tetani enters the body through an open wound, including lacerations, abrasions and puncture wounds. The toxin causes neuromuscular dysfunction, with rigidity and spasms of skeletal muscles. The muscle spasms usually start in the jaw (which is why the disease is sometimes called "lockjaw") and neck and may spread to many other muscles, leading to generalized paralysis.

Study: More than a quarter of American infants not received common childhood vaccines

More than a quarter of American infants in 2018 had not received common childhood vaccines that protect them from illnesses such as polio, tetanus, measles, mumps and chicken pox, new research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine reveals.

29 Apr 2021

World Malaria Day 2021: An interview with Sir Brian Greenwood

News-Medical interviews Sir Brian Greenwood about raising awareness for malaria during the COVID-19 pandemic and achieving elimination of the disease.

23 Apr 2021

Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine elicits antibodies in blood and breastmilk simultaneously, finds study

A new study adds to the sum of knowledge around this issue, showing a highly synchronized and rapid development of an antibody response in breast milk and serum, which reached stable levels around two weeks after the second dose of the vaccine was administered.

10 Mar 2021

Could laser-facilitated epicutaneous vaccination for SARS-CoV-2 be an alternative to intramuscular injection?

Scientists at the University of Salzburg and Pantec Biosolutions AG have developed a laser-facilitated epicutaneous immunization against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike protein. The model has induced angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) blocking antibodies in mice.

23 Feb 2021

Vaccine candidate containing tetanus toxoid potentially protective against SARS-CoV-2

Researchers from Cuba, China, and France have demonstrated the potential of coupling a viral antigen with the tetanus toxoid protein as a vaccination approach to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

14 Feb 2021

Vaccinated mothers may pass on SARS-CoV-2 antibodies to newborns

A new study describes the first case of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies detected in the cord blood of an infant born to a mother immunized with the first dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine three weeks earlier.

9 Feb 2021

Routine vaccinations in India disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic

A team of researchers studied the disruptions in the vaccinations across India during the current pandemic.

1 Feb 2021

Evidence review: COVID-19 infections are generally 'mild' in children under five years

Babies and asymptomatic cases account for up to half of COVID-19 infections in the under-five age group, which has implications for vaccination programs, a new UNSW study has found.

6 Jan 2021

New, rapid antibody test gives detailed information on how the immune system reacts to Covid-19

A new type of antibody test is being developed by researchers at Linnaeus University and the bioanalysis company Attana. Compared to the binary antibody tests used today, this rapid test can give more detailed information on how our immune systems react to Covid-19 and other types of viruses and bacteria.

29 Dec 2020

Different SARS-CoV-2 neutralization assays are reliable and concordant for antibody monitoring

A recent study by US researchers, currently available on the medRxiv preprint server, evaluated several cell-based assays that are under validation for determining correlates of protection in individuals with symptomatic coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and vaccine studies – and demonstrated their high concordance with both live and pseudotyped virions.

9 Dec 2020

Anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin produced from convalescent plasma pool has 3-fold antibody neutralizing activity

In a recent study published in the preprint server bioRxiv, researchers from the Grifols Bioscience Research Group reported on the collection of convalescent plasma and production of anti-SARS-CoV-2 hyperimmune globulin for use in clinical research.

22 Nov 2020

COVID-19 during pregnancy can cause placental inflammation and impaired immunity

A new study conducted by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University, USA, has observed how pregnant women infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) show stunted antiviral immune responses.

18 Nov 2020

Children's DTP vaccine may provide cross-immunity for COVID-19

He found that the viruses subject to pediatric vaccinations do not have cross-reactive epitopes for SARS-CoV-2, showing they cannot provide protection against COVID-19.

17 Nov 2020

Study shows limited influence of BMI on shaping SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses

A new study by researchers at the Harvard Medical School and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard showed that obesity is not tied to the increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the team demonstrated that obesity is associated with increased manifestations of symptoms in mild COVID-19 infections, suggesting that obesity impacts the pathophysiology of COVID-19.

16 Nov 2020

Corralling the facts on herd immunity

For a term that's at least 100 years old, "herd immunity" has gained new life in 2020.

29 Sep 2020

New trial tests combination antibody treatment for preventing COVID-19 illness

A combination antibody treatment for preventing COVID-19 illness in individuals who have had sustained exposure to someone with the virus is being studied by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

25 Sep 2020

COVID exodus fills vacation towns with new medical pressures

The staff at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital is accustomed to the number of patients tripling or even quadrupling each summer when wealthy Manhattanites flee the city for the Hamptons. But this year, the COVID pandemic has upended everything.

15 Sep 2020

Seasonal influenza and COVID-19 risk

In a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv, researchers from Laval University and McGill University in Canada reviewed evidence from 18 relevant studies on a possible interaction between influenza vaccines on non-influenza respiratory disease (NIRD).

6 Sep 2020

Equine antibody preparation shows greater capacity to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 isolate than human convalescent plasma

A recent Brazilian study demonstrates that hyperimmune globulin formulations generated against the recombinant spike protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) provide significantly high antibody titer with highly neutralizing capacity. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

23 Aug 2020

Researchers develop vaccine for human herpesvirus 6B

A research group led by Professor MORI Yasuko (of the Division of Clinical Virology, Center for Infectious Diseases, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine) has revealed that the HHV-6B glycoprotein complex gH/gL/gQ1/gQ2 is an effective vaccine candidate for human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B).

20 Aug 2020