Immunogenicity and efficacy of oral vaccines in developing countries: lessons from a live cholera vaccine

Oral vaccines, whether living or non-living, viral or bacterial, elicit diminished immune responses or have lower efficacy in developing countries than in developed countries. Here I describe studies with a live oral cholera vaccine that include older children no longer deriving immune support from breast milk or maternal antibodies and that identify some of the factors accounting for the lower immunogenicity, as well as suggesting counter-measures that may enhance the effectiveness of oral immunization in developing countries. The fundamental breakthrough is likely to require reversing effects of the 'environmental enteropathy' that is often present in children living in fecally contaminated, impoverished environments

Multiple interstitial ribosomal sites (NORs) in the Brazilian squirrel Sciurus aestuans ingrami (Rodentia, Sciuridae) with 2n = 40: an overview of Sciurus cytogenetics

This is the first time the karyotype of the Brazilian squirrel Sciurusaestuans ingrami, with 2n = 40, is described. The karyotype of this species comprises 18 pairs of biarmed and one minute pair of acrocentric autosomes, a medium-sized submetacentric X and a medium-sized acrocentric Y. Four pairs have an interstitial secondary constriction, co-located with nucleolar organizer regions (NORs), identified by silver-staining technique and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with ribosomal 18S/28S probes. The occurrence of multiple interstitial NORs is rare in rodents, and this is one of the few examples, identified by a molecular cytogenetics approach