Emerging Infectious Disease ISSN: 1080-6059

Immunologic Response of Unvaccinated Workers Exposed to Anthrax, Belgium

Pierre Wattiau

, Marc Govaerts, Dimitrios Frangoulidis, David Fretin, Esther Kissling, Mieke Van Hessche, Bernard China, Martine Poncin, Yvo Pirenne, and Germaine Hanquet

Author affiliations: Veterinary and Agro-chemical Research Centre, Brussels, Belgium (P. Wattiau, M. Govaerts, D. Fretin, M. Van Hessche); Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany (D. Frangoulidis); Institute of Public Health, Brussels, Belgium (E. Kissling, B. China, G. Hanquet); Occupational Medicine PROVIKMO, Verviers, Belgium (M. Poncin); Medical Inspection, Angleur, Belgium (Y. Pirenne); European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Stockholm, Sweden (E. Kissling)

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Figure 2

Graph showing anti–protective antigen (PA) immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers plotted against 3H-thymidine counts per minute (cpm) derived from PA-stimulated blood cell cultures conducted in year 2. The vertical lines define the ELISA borderline and upper thresholds (10 IU/mL and 15 IU/mL, respectively), which were defined as PA titers by the ELISA kit manufacturer, i.e., titers supposed to confer protection after vaccination. Samples testing below the borderline threshold are considered negative. T2

Figure 2. Graph showing anti–protective antigen (PA) immunoglobulin G (IgG) titers plotted against ³H-thymidine counts per minute (cpm) derived from PA-stimulated blood cell cultures conducted in year 2. The vertical lines define the ELISA borderline and upper thresholds (10 IU/mL and 15 IU/mL, respectively), which were defined as PA titers by the ELISA kit manufacturer, i.e., titers supposed to confer protection after vaccination. Samples testing below the borderline threshold are considered negative. T29 and T2 refer to workers whose samples had a remarkably high antibody titer or lymphocyte proliferation count, respectively.

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