Open AccessPREVENTION OF PNEUMOCOCCAL PNEUMONIA BY IMMUNIZATION WITH SPECIFIC CAPSULAR POLYSACCHARIDES
Author(s) -
Colin M. MacLeod,
Richard G. Hodges,
Michael Heidelberger,
William G. Bernhard
Publication year - 1945
Publication title -
the journal of experimental medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 8.483
H-Index - 448
eISSN - 1540-9538
pISSN - 0022-1007
DOI - 10.1084/jem.82.6.445
Subject(s) - immunization , pneumonia , pneumococcal pneumonia , streptococcus pneumoniae , pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine , medicine , immunology , heterologous , population , polysaccharide , subcutaneous injection , incidence (geometry) , microbiology and biotechnology , immune system , biology , pneumococcal disease , antibiotics , biochemistry , environmental health , gene , physics , optics
1. Immunization of man with 0.03 to 0.06 mg. of each of the capsular polysaccharides of pneumococcus types I, II, V, and VII, given in a single subcutaneous injection, has been shown to be effective in preventing pneumonia caused by these types but not that due to heterologous types. 2. Immunity appears within a period of 2 weeks following injection of the polysaccharides. Its duration was not determined, although 6 months can be set as a minimum. 3. Immunization of alternate subjects in the population reduced greatly the incidence of pneumonia in the non-immunized. 4. The carrier rate for pneumococcus types I, II, V, and VII was lowered significantly in the immunized group as compared with the controls. It is suggested that an over-all reduction in the incidence of carriers was responsible for the lowered rates for pneumococcal pneumonia in the non-immunized group.
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