Antigenic Activity of Poliomyelitis Vaccines Undergoing Field Test

Abstract

The principles involved in the preparation of vaccines for field studies of vaccination against poliomyelitis, carried out in the spring and summer of 1954, are discussed. A summary is presented of some of the early data derived from studies of antibody response in man, and in laboratory animals, of the antigenic effects of the different lots of vaccine used. It appears that of 18 batches of vaccine employed, there were 3 that were less active antigenically than were the rest and that this effect was not equal for all, but was most marked for one of the components of these particular lots. Reasons for the variations are fully understood and have provided the basis for recommendations for further large-scale preparation and for standardization of vaccine for future studies.