Antibody Responses to Antigens of Campylobacter Jejuni in Swedish Chicken Slaughter House Workers and Healthy Blood Donors

Abstract

Epidemiological studies in developing countries, where there is a high risk of infection with campylobacters, indicate that repeated exposure can induce protection against disease although not necessarily against colonisation. Similarly persons, in high risk employment, such as chicken slaughter house workers² or veterinary surgeons, appear to develop protection against campylobacteriosis. The mechanisms of this protection presumably involve immunological responses and are probably antibody mediated³. Such responses indicate that effective vaccines could be developed against campylobacteriosis in humans. The development of vaccines able to induce such protective immunity would first require the identification of relevant candidate antigens.