Correlated Studies of a Recombinant Influenza-Virus Vaccine. IV. Protection against Naturally Occurring Influenza in Military Trainees

• Published in: The Journal of infectious diseases Vol. 124; no. 5; pp. 481 - 487
• Main Authors: Leibovitz, Albert, Coultrip, Raymond L., Kilbourne, Edwin D., Legters, Llewellyn J., Smith, Creed D., Chin, James, Schulman, Jerome L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The University of Chicago Press 01.11.1971; University of Chicago Press
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Animals; Antibodies; Antibody Formation; Antigen-Antibody Reactions; Antigens; Antigens - analysis; Cell Line; Chick Embryo; Complement Fixation Tests; Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; Humans; Immunity, Active; Immunization; Infections; Influenza vaccines; Influenza Vaccines - administration & dosage; Influenza Vaccines - standards; Influenza, Human - immunology; Influenza, Human - prevention & control; Injections, Intramuscular; Injections, Subcutaneous; Kidney; Male; Military Medicine; Neuraminidase - metabolism; Original Articles; Orthomyxoviridae; Orthomyxoviridae - isolation & purification; Recombination, Genetic; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory Tract Infections - microbiology; Time Factors; Vaccination; Virus Cultivation; Viruses
• ISSN: 0022-1899; 1537-6613
• DOI: 10.1093/infdis/124.5.481

An inactivated influenza vaccine made from a recombinant virus, X-31, derived from HK/Aichi/68 and A0/PR8/34 influenza viruses, was tested in a population of 9,616 military trainees at Fort Ord, California, during the winter and spring of 1970. Of the population, 1,682 (18%) were immunized with 556 chick-cell-agglutinating units of X-31 vaccine and 7,934 (82%) served as controls. In a smaller subgroup in which antigenicity of the vaccine was studied, 71% of those vaccinated exhibited a significant hemagglutination-inhibition antibody response. During the period of surveillance, Hong Kong influenza was diagnosed in 102 (1.3%) of 7,934 control subjects. Only five cases (0.3%) were detected in 1,682 subjects previously given X-31 vaccine. The calculated protection ratio was 4.3, and the reduction in clinical infection was 73%. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of producing an effective vaccine from a recombinant virus. This protection compares favorably with that afforded by earlier standard influenza vaccines.