Could Vaccine Protect the Immunodeficient Against Sepsis?
Active immunization of immunodeficient patients could prevent serious gram-negative infections, animal studies suggest. Gram-negative bacterial infections cause extensive morbidity and mortality; immunocompromised patients are at particular risk. Passive immunization with monoclonal antibodies against bacterial toxins is being actively pursued, but serious problems remain. S.M. Opal of Brown University and Memorial Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, and colleagues have taken a different approach: the development of an E. coli-based vaccine against bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). They reported their…
