adj. describing a virus that can invade and affect many different tissues of the body, for example the nerves, skin, or liver, without showing a special affinity for any one of them.
chick embryos injected with the living, attenuated strain (17D) of pantropic virus. Only one injection is required, and immunity persists for many years. Re-inoculation, however, is desirable every ten years. (See YELLOW FEVER.)
Haemophilus vaccine (HiB) This vaccine was introduced in the UK in 1994 to deal with the annual incidence of about 1,500 cases and 100 deaths from haemophilus MENINGITIS, SEPTICAEMIA and EPIGLOTTITIS, mostly in pre-school children. It has been remarkably successful when given as part of the primary vaccination programme at two, three and four months of age – reducing the incidence by over 95 per cent. A few cases still occur, either due to other subgroups of the organism for which the vaccine is not designed, or because of inadequate response by the child, possibly related to interference from the newer forms of pertussis vaccine (see above) given at the same time.
Meningococcal C vaccine Used in the UK from 1998, this has dramatically reduced the incidence of meningitis and septicaemia due to this organism. Used as part of the primary programme in early infancy, it does not protect against other types of meningococci.
Varicella vaccine This vaccine, used to protect against varicella (CHICKENPOX) is used in a number of countries including the United States and Japan. It has not been introduced into the UK, largely because of concerns that use in infancy would result in an upsurge in cases in adult life, when the disease may be more severe.
Pneumococcal vaccine The pneumococcus is responsible for severe and sometimes fatal childhood diseases including meningitis and septicaemia, as well as PNEUMONIA and other respiratory infections. Vaccines are available but do not protect against all strains and are reserved for special situations – such as for patients without a SPLEEN or those who are immunode?cient.... yellow fever vaccine is prepared from
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