We used a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to study the efficacy of WC3 rotavirus vaccine administered to 104 infants (ages, three to 12 months) before the rotavirus season. Forty-nine infants received vaccine; 55 received placebo. Rotavirus disease during this season was predominantly caused by a serotype 1 strain. In placebo recipients there were 14 cases of rotavirus diarrhea (attack rate, 25%); 11 were moderate to severe (attack rate, 20%). Vaccinees experienced only three cases of rotavirus disease (attack rate, 6.1%), all mild. When all cases (whether associated with rotavirus or not) of clinically significant diarrhea (CSD) were evaluated, WC3 vaccine provided statistically significant (P less than .01) protection against the total number of episodes of CSD and reduced the number of days of CSD-associated diarrhea, vomiting, fever, or illness. Seventy-one percent of the WC3-vaccinated infants had serum antibody responses to the vaccine. The 14 placebo recipients who experienced natural disease predominantly had antibody responses to serotype 1. Sera taken after the rotavirus season revealed a nearly identical rate (40%) of natural rotavirus infection in the vaccinated and placebo groups.
In order to evaluate the role of passively acquired, rotavirus-specific antibodies in protection against diarrhea, we inoculated mouse dams with rotaviruses of various serotypes, and their newborns were orally challenged with a primate rotavirus (simian SA-11). Dams were immunized by using a regimen that included repeated inoculations administered either orally or intraperitoneally with adjuvant. The serum antibody response detected in dams by radioimmunoassay and plaque-reduction neutralization after parenteral immunization was approximately 15-fold and 80-fold greater, respectively, than that found after oral "hyperimmunization." Parenteral immunization with rotavirus serotypes either homotypic or heterotypic to the challenge virus protected suckling mice against diarrhea; protection was closely correlated with the in vitro neutralizing activity of maternal serum against the challenge virus. Oral immunization with only rotavirus strains homotypic to the challenge virus afforded protection; the lower immune response after oral immunization with rotaviruses heterotypic to the challenge virus resulted in a titer of neutralizing antibody to the challenge virus below the protective threshold. From our current studies it appears that antibody-mediated passive protection against rotavirus challenge is dependent on both serotype and titer of antibody.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.