A note on the immunogenicity of ultra-violet irradiated vaccinia virus in man

Abstract

A preparation of vaccinia virus inactivated by ultra-violet irradiation under strictly controlled conditions, and shown to produce neutralizing antibody and resistance to challenge in rabbits, was active in only about half of 37 human volunteers. It was not, therefore, likely to be usefully immunogenic in man. In the largest single test, 15 of 25 men had unmodified primary skin reactions when challenged with living virus, although five of these had circulating antibody. On the other hand, only three of 10 men who responded to challenge with modified or negative reactions, had no circulating antibody.In man the presence of circulating antibody does not necessarily indicate resistance to infection in the skin, nor does skin immunity always indicate the presence of circulating antibody.