Vaccinia scars associated with better survival for adults

Aaby, Péter; Gustafson, Per; Roth, Adam; Rodrigues, Amabélia; Fernandes, Manuel; Sodemann, Morten; Holmgren, Birgitta; Benn, Christine Stabell; Garly, May‐Lill; Lisse, Ida Maria; Jensen, Henrik

doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2006.04.045

Cited by 68 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…The study from urban Bissau revealed that few had received vaccinia vaccination before school-age, the median age of vaccination being 18 years [10]. Since vaccinia vaccinations were stopped in Guinea-Bissau in 1980, we only included individuals born before 1974 in the previous [10] and the present analysis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since vaccinia vaccinations were stopped in Guinea-Bissau in 1980, we only included individuals born before 1974 in the previous [10] and the present analysis. A Cox proportional hazards model [19] was used to assess the mortality ratio for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Adults with a smallpox scar had a mortality rate ratio (MR) of 0.60 (0.41–0.87) compared to those without any scar. Also, individuals with a vaccinia scar had larger mid-upper-arm-circumference (MUAC) than individuals without a scar and a larger MUAC was associated with better survival [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vaccinia Scars Associated with Improved Survival among Adults in Rural Guinea-Bissau

et al. 2006

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BackgroundIn urban Guinea-Bissau, adults with a vaccinia scar had better survival but also a higher prevalence of HIV-2 infection. We therefore investigated the association between vaccinia scar and survival and HIV infection in a rural area of Guinea-Bissau.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn connection with a study of HIV in rural Guinea-Bissau, we assessed vaccinia and BCG scars in 193 HIV-1 or HIV-2 infected and 174 uninfected participants. Mortality was assessed after 2½–3 years of follow-up. The analyses were adjusted for age, sex, village, and HIV status. The prevalence of vaccinia scar was associated with age, village, and HIV-2 status but not with sex and schooling. Compared with individuals without any scar, individuals with a vaccinia scar had better survival (mortality rate ratio (MR) = 0.22 (95% CI 0.08–0.61)), the MR being 0.19 (95% CI 0.06–0.57) for women and 0.40 (95% CI 0.04–3.74) for men. Estimates were similar for HIV-2 infected and HIV-1 and HIV-2 uninfected individuals. The HIV-2 prevalence was higher among individuals with a vaccinia scar compared to individuals without a vaccinia scar (RR = 1.57 (95% CI 1.02–2.36)).ConclusionThe present study supports the hypothesis that vaccinia vaccination may have a non-specific beneficial effect on adult survival.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Vaccinia Scars Associated with Improved Survival among Adults in Rural Guinea-Bissau

et al. 2006

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“…However, the observational studies in rural Guinea-Bissau indicated that the presence of vaccinia scars were associated with increased survival rates among adults. 79,83 It was also shown that it may decrease the risk of asthma and malignant melanoma. 84 In Danish studies, smallpox immunizations lowered the number of infectious disease hospitalizations.…”

Section: Vaccinia Vaccinationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vaccination and heterologous immunity: educating the immune system

Gil¹,

Kenney²,

Mishra³

et al. 2015

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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This review discusses three inter-related topics: (1) the immaturity of the neonatal and infant immune response; (2) heterologous immunity, where prior infection history with unrelated pathogens alters disease outcome resulting in either enhanced protective immunity or increased immunopathology to new infections, and (3) epidemiological human vaccine studies that demonstrate vaccines can have beneficial or detrimental effects on subsequent unrelated infections. The results from the epidemiological and heterologous immunity studies suggest that the immune system has tremendous plasticity and that each new infection or vaccine that an individual is exposed to during a lifetime will potentially alter the dynamics of their immune system. It also suggests that each new infection or vaccine that an infant receives is not only perturbing the immune system but is educating the immune system and laying down the foundation for all subsequent responses. This leads to the question, is there an optimum way to educate the immune system? Should this be taken into consideration in our vaccination protocols?

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“…To remove a vaccine with beneficial effects because the infection was eradicated or eliminated-as we did with vaccinia-may be disastrous. [50][51][52][53] All the current vaccination practices need to be reviewed and tested in RCTs if possible. Based on current observational studies, we predict, for example, first, DTP/pentavalent vaccine should not be administered after MV; second, VAS should not be administered with DTP/ pentavalent vaccine or provided to children having DTP as their most recent vaccine; and third, if measles vaccine is given later or less often following the elimination of measles infection, child mortality will increase.…”

Section: O N O T D I S T R I B U T Ementioning

confidence: 99%