To assess immunity after yellow fever (YF) 17D live-attenuated vaccination, we measured the antibody levels before vaccination and at 21 days and 8 months after vaccination in YF-naïve travelers. Thirty subjects were enrolled in the study, with 100% providing sera at 21 days and 86.6% providing sera at 8 months. All subjects seroconverted by day 21, and the geometric mean titers of the anti-YF antibodies decreased between day 21 and month 8 from 6,451 to 1,246. This study corroborates the high rates of seroconversion achieved by the live-attenuated YF vaccine.

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A 72-year--old gentleman with no past history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was admitted with a history of progressive shortness of breath, increasing over the preceding 2—3 months. His exercise tolerance was decreasing and he was unable to climb stairs without becoming breathless. He described a cough on most days productive of creamy white sputum but he had never coughed up any blood. He denied wheeze, ankle oedema, orthopnoea or paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnoea. There was no history of chest pain. He was not on any medication and had no allergies. He was an ex-smoker. He smoked an average of 20 cigarettes a day (one pack) for almost 30 years giving him a total of 30 pack-years of smoking. He denied drinking alcohol. There were no symptoms referable to any other system.