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It was not too long ago that many physicians and biomedical
scientists felt that the era of 'vaccines' for protecting mankind
against infectious disease was coming to an end. During the 1 940s
and 50s the widespread use of newly developed antibiotics and
antimicrobial chemotherapeutic agents suggested a new era in
medicine, i. e. the control and eventual elimination of all
infectious diseases, at least those caused by bacteria, by'
chemical means. The magic 'bullet' proposed by Paul Ehrlich in the
early 1900s seemed to be the method of choice for controling
infection. However, it is now quite evident that those high
expectations were unwarranted. Although many acute infections,
especially those caused by pyogenic cocci, have been controlled by
antibiotics, it is quite evident that infectious diseases, even
those caused by bacteria, still are a major problem. Thus, the old
'standby' of preventative vaccination is making a strong comeback,
not only for viral but also for bacterial infections. However,
except for a relatively small number of viral diseases and those
bacterial diseases due to toxin elaborated by microorganisms rather
than invasion and replication of the microbe per se, preventative
vaccination still has not fulfilled the expectations of their
proponents. There has been a recent resurgence of interest
concerning all aspects of vaccines, not only their preparation and
administration, but also the nature and mechanism of the host
immune response to the constituent micro organisms and their
products."
Analyses for naturally occurring biological substances or
administered materials have been with us for many years. These were
usually based on the physical or chemical characteristics of the
substances to be measured. However in recent years there has been
an explosion of interest in analytical methods which made use of
the high specificity and sensitivity of im munological reactions.
These methods can be very simple in terms of technical procedures
and can usually be performed on minute samples of biological fluids
- factors which have ensured their ready acceptance in most
laboratories. Recently there have been numerous meetings on
technical aspects of particular immunoassays and on their
application in specific diseases. We felt however that the time was
ripe for an 'overview' of the whole field. To this end a conference
on 'Immunoassays for the 80s' was held at the Zoological Society of
London in 1980, and this book is largely based on that meeting.
Both the immunoassay techniques and their numerous applications
were discussed and are dealt with at length in this volume. The
editors wish to thank all the contributors for their chapters and
to acknowledge the debt they owe to Jean Ryan (NLCM) without whose
organization and assistance this volume would not have been
completed. A.V., D.B., A.B."
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