Measles Immunization With Killed Virus Vaccine: Serum Antibody Titers and Experience With Exposure to Measles Epidemic

MANY of the previous reports of children immunized with killed measles vaccine 1-5 have covered fairly short periods of observation, and the exposure of patients to a measles epidemic (wild virus infections) has been limited. In this study, the children who received the vaccine were followed for 2 to 2½ years in respect to the antibody levels in their blood sera and their clinical response to exposure to measles which occurred in epidemic proportions in the community. The objectives of the study were (1) the measurement of effectiveness of killed attenuated measles vaccine in producing antibodies against the disease in susceptible children and (2) observation of the effectiveness of the vaccine in protecting the patients when they were exposed to the actual disease. A surprising development was the occurrence of atypical forms of measles in patients who had received vaccine and were subsequently exposed to epidemic clinical measles. Procedure Early