Experiments on Active Immunization Against Experimental Poliomyelitis

Abstract

The results obtained in this investigation indicate that poliomyelitis virus treated with tannin, sodium ricinoleate, or formalin does not constitute a satisfactory immunizing agent in monkeys against the experimental disease.

Humoral Antibodies and Resistance of Vaccinated and Convalescent Monkeys to Poliomyelitis Virus

“…Of particular interest was the observation that convalescent monkeys were resistant to reinfection before antiviral bodies were demonstrable in their serum, and that the sera of all the monkeys tested several times 4 to 5 weeks after paralysis contained no demonstrable antibody; all monkeys, however, finally developed antibodies--some of them at 2 months and others not until 3 months after the onset of paralysis. It should be pointed out that by the use of the same test, vaccinated monkeys have been shown to contain readily demonstrable serum antibody at 5 to 6 weeks after the first inoculation without, however, exhibiting any resistance to the same amount of virus instilled intranasaUy (2). Itwasfurthermore demonstrated that the serum of convalescent monkeys, when antibody finally appeared in it, was no more potent than that of the susceptible, vaccinated monkeys.…”

“…By the use of the same test, antiviral bodies were readily detected in the serum of vaccinated monkeys which proved to be fully susceptible to the nasal instillation of poliomyelitis virus (2). It is clear, therefore, that the difference in resistance between convalescent and vaccinated monkeys is not directly related to the content of antiviral bodies.…”

Immunization Against Poliomyelitis

“…Other investigators reported an antibody response to the vaccine in monkeys, consistently (128,139) or irregularly (140). The only neutralization tests reported by others on human subjects receiving this vaccine are inconclusive (146).…”

Neutralization Tests in Poliomyelitis. Sera Taken During the Acute and Convalescent Stages of the Disease and Tested With a Passage Virus and a Strain Isolated During the 1935 New York City Outbreak 1

“…Certain experimental and clinical observations, however, do not support this view. It has been shown (27,28) that sera of monkeys injected subcutaneously with a subinfective dose of virus may after a few weeks neutralize poliomyelitis virus in vitro, even though the animals are not able to resist an intracerebral or intranasal instillation of potent virus. Further, convalescent monkeys which are refractory to reinoculation may show no neutralizing substance in their sera (29,30,31).…”