Immunity status of adults and children against poliomyelitis virus type 1 strains CHAT and Sabin (LSc-2ab) in Germany.

Maren Eggers,Holger F Rabenau,Elena Terletskaia-Ladwig,Hans W Doerr,Sabine Diedrich,Martin Enders,Gisela Enders

doi:10.1186/1471-2334-10-347

Maren Eggers, Holger F Rabenau + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2334-10-347

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Abstract

BackgroundIn October 2007, the working group CEN/TC 216 of the European Committee for standardisation suggested that the Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine type 1 strain (LSc-2ab) presently used for virucidal tests should be replaced by another attenuated vaccine poliovirus type 1 strain, CHAT. Both strains were historically used as oral vaccines, but the Sabin type 1 strain was acknowledged to be more attenuated. In Germany, vaccination against poliomyelitis was introduced in 1962 using the oral polio vaccine (OPV) containing Sabin strain LSc-2ab. The vaccination schedule was changed from OPV to an inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) containing wild polio virus type 1 strain Mahoney in 1998. In the present study, we assessed potential differences in neutralising antibody titres to Sabin and CHAT in persons with a history of either OPV, IPV, or OPV with IPV booster.MethodsNeutralisation poliovirus antibodies against CHAT and Sabin 1 were measured in sera of 41 adults vaccinated with OPV. Additionally, sera from 28 children less than 10 years of age and immunised with IPV only were analysed. The neutralisation assay against poliovirus was performed according to WHO guidelines.ResultsThe neutralisation activity against CHAT in adults with OPV vaccination history was significantly lower than against Sabin poliovirus type 1 strains (Wilcoxon signed-rank test P < 0.025). In eight sera, the antibody titres measured against CHAT were less than 8, although the titre against Sabin 1 varied between 8 and 64. Following IPV booster, anti-CHAT antibodies increased rapidly in sera of CHAT-negative adults with OPV history. Sera from children with IPV history neutralised CHAT and Sabin 1 strains equally.ConclusionThe lack of neutralising antibodies against the CHAT strain in persons vaccinated with OPV might be associated with an increased risk of reinfection with the CHAT polio virus type 1, and this implies a putative risk of transmission of the virus to polio-free communities. We strongly suggest that laboratory workers who were immunised with OPV receive a booster vaccination with IPV before handling CHAT in the laboratory.

Highlights

In October 2007, the working group CEN/TC 216 of the European Committee for standardisation suggested that the Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine type 1 strain (LSc-2ab) presently used for virucidal tests should be replaced by another attenuated vaccine poliovirus type 1 strain, CHAT
Sera from 12 laboratory workers potentially exposed to poliovirus were obtained between 2008 and 2009 by an occupational health physician according to the examination program of the German Workers Compensation Act (G 42 “Activities with a risk of infection”)
Calibration of in-house reference serum in international units The geometric mean titres (GMT) of the International Standard Antiserum and of the in-house reference serum calculated from all measured results obtained with strain Sabin from Behringwerke were 324 and 74, respectively

Summary

Introduction

In October 2007, the working group CEN/TC 216 of the European Committee for standardisation suggested that the Sabin oral poliovirus vaccine type 1 strain (LSc-2ab) presently used for virucidal tests should be replaced by another attenuated vaccine poliovirus type 1 strain, CHAT. In Germany, the virus can be obtained from the German Association for the Control of Viral Diseases [Deutsche Vereinigung zur Bekämpfung der Viruskrankheiten (DVV)] Another source is the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control (NIBSC), offering the WHO reference strain Sabin Original Virus, second passage (SO+2) (NIBSC, code 01/528). In this study we used strains from all these three different sources to show that their properties are identical Both attenuated vaccine strains for poliovirus type 1, CHAT and Sabin, were derived from the wild Mahoney strain. Because of the superior immunogenic and safety profile of Sabin strains, their use was widely recommended for oral polio vaccination (OPV) [5,6]

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