ABSTRACT
Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic disease mainly caused by Mycobacterium bovis, a zoonotic pathogen with economic significance as it leads to reduced milk and meat production, and high costs for control measures. The Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, primarily used to prevent tuberculosis in humans, has also been studied for controlling bTB. While showing effectiveness in preventing M. bovis infection and disease in cattle, the BCG vaccine can induce non-specific effects on the immune system, enhancing responses to infections caused by unrelated pathogens, and also having non-specific effects on lactation. The aim of this study is to describe both the specific and non-specific effects of BCG vaccination in calves from a commercial dairy herd in central Chile. Diagnosis of M. bovis infection was performed through the IFNγ release assay (IGRA) using ESAT6/CFP-10 and Rv3615c antigens. The records of milk production, somatic cell count (SCC), clinical mastitis (CM) and retained placenta (RP) during the first lactation were compared between vaccinated and non-vaccinated animals. The breed (Holstein Friesian [HF] v/s HF × Swedish Red crossbred [HFSR]) and the season (warm v/s cold) were also analyzed as categorical explanatory variables. Results of IGRA showed significant differences between vaccinated and control groups, indicating a vaccine efficacy of 58.5% at 18 months post vaccination in HFSR crossbred animals. Although milk production did not vary, SCC and CM showed differences between groups, associated to the breed and the season, respectively. When analyzing CM and RP as a whole entity of disease, BCG showed protection in all but the cold season variables. Overall, the BCG vaccine induced protective specific and non-specific effects on health parameters, which may be influenced by the breed of animals and the season. These results provide new features of BCG protection, supporting initiatives for its implementation as a complementary tool in bTB control.
ABSTRACT
La epidermólisis ampollosa es una enfermedad caracterizada por la ausencia congénita parcial o total de la piel. La epidermólisis ampollosa consiste en la formación de ampollas llenas de líquido sérico o hemático. Tiene diferentes formas de presentación y el diagnóstico definitivo se hace mediante microscopía electrónica e inmunofluorescencia. El diagnóstico molecular permite descubrir el gen afectado. La epidermólisis ampollosa es una enfermedad que puede causar gran letalidad en los recién nacidos, ya que no hay tratamiento curativo definitivo; sin embargo, éste se debe enfocar en la prevención de traumas mecánicos y la curación de las ampollas, así como del manejo multidisciplinario para prevenir las complicaciones asociadas. Se presenta el caso de un recién nacido quien ingresó a la Fundación Valle del Lili de la ciudad de Cali, Colombia.
Epidermolysis bullosa is a congenital disorder characterized by the partial or total loss of the skin. Epidermolysis bullosa is characterized by the formation of blisters in the skin filled of blood or fluid content. It has different clinical presentations and its diagnosis is made by electronic microscopy and inmunofluorescence technique. The molecular diagnosis makes possible to identify the affected gene. Epidermolysis bullosa is an illness that has high mortality rates in newborns, since there is no definitive cure; however, its management should be focus on the prevention of mechanical traumas, and blisters healing, therefore multidisciplinary management is necessary to prevent the complications. This is a review of a newborn´s case in Fundación Valle del Lili, Cali, Colombia.