History of Development of the Live Poliomyelitis Vaccine from Sabin Attenuated Strains in 1959 and Idea of Poliomyelitis Eradication

In 1958 Poliomyelitis Institute in Moscow and Institute of Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg received from A. Sabin the attenuated strains of poliomyelitis virus. The characteristics of the strains were thoroughly studied by A. A. Smorodintsev and coworkers. They found that the virulence of the strains fluctuated slightly in 10 consecutive passages through the intestine of the non-immune children. A part of the Sabin material was used by A. A. Smorodintsev and M. P. Chumakov in the beginning of 1959 for immunizing approximately 40000 children in Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. Epidemic poliomyelitis rate in these republics decreased from approximately 1000 cases yearly before vaccination to less than 20 in the third quarter of 1959. This was a convincing proof of the efficacy and safety of the vaccine from the attenuated Sabin strains. In 1959, according to A. Sabin’s recommendation, a technology of live vaccine production was developed at the Poliomyelitis Institute, and several experimental lots of vaccine were prepared. In the second part of 1959, 13.5 million children in USSR were immunized. The epidemic poliomyelitis rate decreased 3-5 times in different regions without paralytic cases, which could be attributed to the vaccination. These results were the final proof of high efficiency and safety of live poliomyelitis vaccine from the attenuated Sabin strains. Based on these results, A. Sabin and M. P. Chumakov suggested in 1960 the idea of poliomyelitis eradication using mass immunization of children with live vaccine. 72 million persons up to 20 years old were vaccinated in USSR in 1960 with a 5 times drop in the paralytic rate. 50-year-long use of live vaccine results in poliomyelitis eradication in almost all countries worldwide. More than 10 million children were rescued from the death and palsy. Poliomyelitis eradication in a few countries where it still exists depends not on medical services but is defined by the attitude of their leaders to fight against poliomyelitis. In some developing countries the vaccination data are falsified, thereby threatening the polio epidemics reappearance and the virus spreading to other countries. Methods must be developed for detection and dealing with extremely rare persistent virus carriers. Because of all these constraints the outcome of poliomyelitis eradication at present is uncertain and vaccination must be continued. The world has become poliovaccine dependent.

OPV history, poliomyelitis vaccine live oral, poliomyelitis eradication