Abstract
Immunity to diphtheria was assessed in 3 groups of 50 children (gr.I: 1.5-5yrs, gr.II: 6-10yrs, gr.III: 11-15yrs) and in 109 women of childbearing age (gr.IV). Antibodies were determined by the Farr-assay. 125I-diphtheria toxin labelled by a modified Chloramin T method and purified on Sephadex G100 was used at a concentration of 4 ng toxin-N/ml. Antibody was considered present if sera bound > 10% of +I-toxin. If > 33% of +I-toxin was bound, an antigen binding capacity (ABC 33) was calculated and expressed as ng toxin-N bound by lml of serum. By this method the ABC 33 of 0.1 unit of the standard antitoxin (the assumed protective level) was 95 ng toxin-N/ml, i.e. about 100 times the amount of antibody detectable by the assay. The percent of individuals with protective levels and the mean ABC 33 values of the 4 groups are shown in the table.
The observed decline of protection calls for an improvement of immunization procedures particularly in school-age children. Supp. by DFG-Grant Ri 345/1.
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Lippmann, A., Müller, W., Rieger, C. et al. Immunity to diphtheria in children and adult women. Pediatr Res 14, 1424 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198012000-00097
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198012000-00097