Extensive Clinical Evaluations of a Highly Attenuated Live Measles Vaccine

Vaccination against measles should be by now a routine procedure in daily medical practice. Three different types of vaccines are commercially available for this purpose. One is the live, attenuated measles virus vaccine, developed by J. F. Enders, PhD, also referred to as the Edmonston B vaccine. It produces excellent antibody response and protection, but it can cause rather severe reaction, consisting of high temperature (103 F [39.5 C] and above) in approximately 40% and mild rash in about 50% of the vaccinated children.¹ Therefore, the simultaneous administration of β-globulin is generally recommended, which reduces but does not eliminate these reactions.^1-4 The second vaccine type contains concentrated, inactivated measles virus with an adjuvant. This vaccine does not cause significant clinical reactions, but a series of injections is necessary to produce satisfactory antibody levels in the majority of the children. The duration of antibodies stimulated by the inactivated measles