Comparative efficacy of the Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP and Purevax™ RCP FeLV vaccines against infection with circulating feline Calicivirus.

BACKGROUND: Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a common virus, found worldwide, mainly responsible for chronic ulceroproliferative faucitis and periodontitis. This virus has a high mutation rate, leading to the presence of numerous FCV strains in the field. The objectives of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of two vaccines (Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP and Purevax™ RCP FeLV), which differ by their nature (live vs. inactivated) and the vaccinal strains, against circulating FCV strains. Thirty 9-week-old specific pathogen free (SPF) kittens were thus randomised into 3 groups and were either not vaccinated (control) or vaccinated (2 injections, 3 weeks apart) with one of the vaccines. Four weeks after the second injection of primary vaccination, the cats were inoculated with a pathogenic strain representative of the ones circulating in Europe (FCV-FR4_01) and followed for 2 weeks. RESULTS: After challenge, significant differences (p < 0.05) between control cats and cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP or Purevax™ RCP FeLV were observed for body weight variation, rectal temperature rise and maximum clinical scores, reflecting the intensity of the signs (83% and 67% lower in the respective vaccinated groups than in the control group). Significant differences were observed between the vaccinated groups, as cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP had a lower temperature rise (p < 0.05 at days post-challenge 3 to 5) and lower virus shedding titres (p < 0.05 at days post-challenge 8, 9 and 11) than cats vaccinated with Purevax™ RCP FeLV. Finally, only cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP had a significantly lower cumulative score, reflecting the intensity and duration of calicivirosis clinical signs, than the control cats (77% lower vs. 62% lower for cats vaccinated with Purevax™ RCP FeLV). CONCLUSIONS: Both vaccines, Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP and Purevax™ RCP FeLV, were found to be efficacious in reducing clinical signs induced by FCV-FR4_01, a FCV strain representative of the circulating ones. However, cats vaccinated with Leucofeligen™ FeLV/RCP were able to control the infection more efficiently than those vaccinated with Purevax™ RCP FeLV, as evidenced by the shorter duration of clinical signs and lower viral titre in excretions.

Maturation signs of the cervix and prediction of preterm birth.

A prospective study was conducted on 7937 pregnancies, 4430 of which had prenatal visits before 37 weeks of gestation. Induced preterm deliveries were excluded (N = 40). Then the data was incorporated from the visits (cervix status, uterine contractions) as well as some common indicators of risk for preterm birth (mother's age, social status, obstetric antecedents, bleeding) into a predictive scoring system for spontaneous preterm labor. Different scores were computed according to both parity and to the timing during pregnancy when the signs were observed. It was found that approximatively 25% of the total preterm births were connected with the presence of at least one of three maturation signs of the uterine cervix (dilation of the internal os to 1 cm, cervical length less than 1 cm, and presence of painful uterine contractions).

Comparison of two successive policies of cervical cerclage for the prevention of pre-term birth.

The percentage of women receiving cervical cerclage increased from 5% to 18% between two periods at Haguenau maternity hospital, according to a new policy for the prevention of pre-term birth. A parallel reduction of premature deliveries by about a half was observed in the relevant group of women. This suggests that cerclage might be employed on another basis than is currently the case, and that a randomized trial is urgently needed to define its indications more precisely.

[Grippe and pregnancy. Relation of birth weight to placenta weight]. / Grippe et grossesse. Relation avec le poids de naissance et le poids du placenta.

The different results that have been published concerning the problem of the final outcome for patients who have had influenza during pregnancy reported in numerous works might be explained by differences in methodology used by the different authors. A study was carried out in the Haguenau Maternity Hospital (Bas-Rhin) when an epidemic of influenza occurred in 1972-173. The virological diagnosis was made by carrying out separate serological estimations on 1940 pregnant women. It can be shown that the mean birthweight dropped in infants of mothers who had contracted influenza during pregnancy even when corrections were made for sex and the duration of the pregnancy. The drop in weight of the placenta (37.3 g as a mean) was more obvious and can totally explain the drop in fetal weight. It was not possible to demonstrate any increase in the number of congenital malformations that were found in the neonatal period in the infants born to women who had had influenza. These results suggest that there is no direct passage of the influenza virus across the placenta which, however, is itself modified by the infection.

[Sero-epidemiology of infections due to cytomegalovirus by indirect hemagglutination technic]. / Sero-epidemiologie des infections à cytomegalovirus par la technique d'hemagglutination indirecte

Applied to cytomegalovirus, the technique of indirect hemagglutination offers a good sensitivity and reliable specificity for serological testings. Improvements in the standardization are however still required. Sero-epidemiological studies performed in different groups of children and carried out with this method led to the following results: mother-child contagium, early infection in young infants, and influence of socio-economical and ethnical factors. Studies performed on pregnant women showed that the risk of infection decreased after the first pregnancy.

Multicentred controlled trial of cervical cerclage in women at moderate risk of preterm delivery.

A total of 506 women at moderate risk of preterm delivery were randomly allocated to either cervical cerclage or a control group. Significantly more women in the group allocated to cerclage were admitted to hospital for reasons other than the operation and more received oral tocolytic drugs. There were also more caesarean sections and more preterm deliveries in the women allocated to cerclage although the differences between the two groups were small and not statistically significant.