Can someone please explains tithers to me?

[gbailey]

In an easy way? DD has her well visit soon and I want the doc to check for the HIB and PCV before her 15 month booster. I just wondered what I should be prepared to ask and what possible nonsense response dh and I may get in return. In my vaccine books, it's just not explained in an easy way. TIA

[gr8blessings]

It is titer or titre. Tithers are people who deduct 10% of their salary and donate it to their church.

The titer is calculated from a series of dilutions that is used to determine the amount of antibody in the serum. These are usually 2-fold dilutions, starting at 1/8. The series would go 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, 1/128 etc.

The assay determines how much antibody is there by a visible reaction. The more antibody present, the more the serum can be diluted and still see the visible reaction. Thus, a titer of <1/8 means no antibody was present at all. The higher the dilution the more antibody. A certain amount of antibody is thought to correlate with immunity.

Here is a pretty neat interactive exercise that allows you to do an assay for lupus antibodies yourself.

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/vlabs/immunology/

How the actual assay is done varies a littel bit depending on what you are talking about, but the principle of a series of dilutions, visible reaction and determination of a titer remains the same.

gr8blessings

[shuttlt]

I'd been wondering this too, but it had never seemed important enough to ask. Thanks gr8blessings.

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by gr8blessings

It is titer or titre. Tithers are people who deduct 10% of their salary and donate it to their church.

The titer is calculated from a series of dilutions that is used to determine the amount of antibody in the serum. These are usually 2-fold dilutions, starting at 1/8. The series would go 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, 1/128 etc.

The assay determines how much antibody is there by a visible reaction. The more antibody present, the more the serum can be diluted and still see the visible reaction. Thus, a titer of <1/8 means no antibody was present at all. The higher the dilution the more antibody. A certain amount of antibody is thought to correlate with immunity.

Here is a pretty neat interactive exercise that allows you to do an assay for lupus antibodies yourself.

http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/vlabs/immunology/

How the actual assay is done varies a littel bit depending on what you are talking about, but the principle of a series of dilutions, visible reaction and determination of a titer remains the same.

gr8blessings

LOL at tithers. Thanks for the correction! and thanks for the info. I appreciate it.

[Gitti]

Titres are determined by how many antibodies a person has in the blood to a given disease. If the antibodies are high that most likely means recent exposure and so on....

But titres are not a reliable measurement for immunity. A person can have high antibody count to say measles and yet next time they are exposed they come down with measles. The opposite is true also, a person can show null antibodies and yet in an outbreak not get infected.

Titres offer no guarantees.

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by Gitti

Titres are determined by how many antibodies a person has in the blood to a given disease. If the antibodies are high that most likely means recent exposure and so on....

But titres are not a reliable measurement for immunity. A person can have high antibody count to say measles and yet next time they are exposed they come down with measles. The opposite is true also, a person can show null antibodies and yet in an outbreak not get infected.

Titres offer no guarantees.

Thanks for the helpful information