Immunization against botulinum toxins

Gelzleichter, T.R., Myers, M.A., Menton, R.G., Niemuth, N.A., Matthews, M.C., and Langford, M.J. 1999. Protection against botulinum toxins provided by passive immunization with botulinum human immune globulin evaluation using an inhalation model. J. Appl. Toxicol. 19 S35-S38. 

Iakovlev, A. (1958). The importance of antitoxic immunity for the defence of the body in respiratory penetration by bacterial toxins. I. Role of passive immunity in the defence of the body against respiratory disease caused by Clostridium botulinum toxins. J. Microbiol. Epidemiol. Immunobiol. 29 904-9. 

A pentavalent botulinum toxoid (botulinum toxin in different antigenic types) has been used for more than 30 years in some countries to prevent the disease in laboratory workers and to protect troops against attack. Pre-exposure immunization for the general population is neither feasible nor desirable the vaccine is ineffective for postexposure prophylaxis. Treatment of botulism consists of passive immunization and supportive care. Most licensed antitoxins contain antibodies against the most common toxin types A, B, and E. About 9% of recipients of equine antitoxin developed urticaria, serum sickness, or other hypersensitivity reactions. In 2% of recipients anaphylaxis occurred within 10 minutes of antitoxin... 

Rapid and intense teaching programs helped prepare our medical healthcare providers, so that by the onset of Operation Desert Storm, they were as ready as any military medical personnel might be to go to war. Hundreds of thousands of troops were supplied with chemical pretreatment and therapeutic agents and thousands were immunized against anthrax and the botulinum toxins, the two most likely biological... 

Gelzleichter, T., Myers, M., Menton, R., et al, 1998b. Evaluation of the passive protection against five serotypes of botulinum toxin provided by botulinum human immune globulin in an animal model. Battelle Final Report Task 96M5. 

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