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Biomedical subjects

P Hurley

Publications and source records attributed to P Hurley.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Unusual remission of Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in a patient with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Pneumocystis carinii is a well-recognized cause of pneumonia in patients with immune deficiency, and when untreated, mortality approaches 100 percent. Although rare cases suggesting spontaneous recovery (usually accompanied by resolving immune deficiency) have been reported, spontaneous resolution of P. carinii pneumonia in patients with the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) has not been described. A patient with AIDS in whom Pneumocystis pneumonia developed and remitted without appropriate therapy is described. This case suggests that the immunologic defects of AIDS are not fixed and that fluctuations in the degree of immunocompetence may allow for clinical recovery from opportunistic infections associated with AIDS even without appropriate therapy.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

Antibody response to varicella-zoster virus after natural or vaccine-induced infection.

The development of serum and nasopharyngeal antibody responses to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) was studied in groups of children after naturally acquired varicella or after immunization with the Oka strain of live attenuated VZV vaccine administered in varying doses via respiratory inhalation or subcutaneous injection. Natural infection, subcutaneous immunization, and respiratory inhalation of large doses of VZV vaccine consistently resulted in the development of VZV-specific IgG antibody responses in serum. Although the serum IgG antibody responses persisted for at least eight to 12 months (to date) after either form of infection, the antibody activity appeared to be four- to eight-fold higher after natural infection than after immunization. Transient IgG antibody responses were observed in serum after respiratory inhalation of smaller doses of VZV vaccine. Natural infection, but not VZV vaccine, was associated with the development of serum and nasopharyngeal IgA responses to VZV in most subjects.

Adolescent↗