Theoretical and practical considerations in the application of killed poliovirus vaccine for the control of paralytic poliomyelitis

Abstract

This paper contains a summary of the principles upon which the preparation and use of killed poliovirus vaccine (KPV) are based, as well as a summary of earlier and more recent work suggesting the feasibility of formulating a KPV preparation that would be fully and durably effective in a one- or two-dose regimen. The essential factor in the preparation of such a vaccine is the inclusion of a sufficient mass of the immunizing antigen, for each of the three antigenic types of poliovirus, to induce the formation of humoral antibody and/or immunologic memory after the first dose. The results of a series of studies carried out in West African and Scandinavian countries are summarized, which suggest that such a vaccine should contain 40, 8, and 32 D-antigen units for types I, II and III, respectively. If the D-antigen unit measurement is to be used as a guide to KPV standardization, the details of the method of manufacture are important; in this regard, the method of vaccine preparation used at the Rijks Instituut voor de Volksgezondheid should serve as a reference standard for the preparation of vaccines expected to produce the effects described.