Clinical Studies With Experimental Live Rubella Virus Vaccine (Strain HPV-77)

Abstract

DURING the past year our group reported the development of an attenuated rubella virus and described the results of preliminary studies using this strain as an experimental live virus vaccine.^1,2 Since the initial clinical trials yielded promising results, a concerted effort was made to confirm and extend these observations. Accordingly, the attenuated strain high passage virus-77 (HPV-77) was made available immediately and has been widely distributed. To speed this work further, HPV-77 experimental vaccine produced in this laboratory was supplied to five groups of clinical investigators, three in this country and two abroad. Our manuscript, the second in this series of three articles, summarizes work completed by May 1967 by the groups and deals with various new data obtained in a series of trials being conducted by our laboratory. The accompanying papers^3,4 provide detailed information concerning the clinical studies performed by the three other groups in this country.