Comparison of serum and salivary antibodies in children vaccinated with oral live or parenteral inactivated poliovirus vaccines of different antigen concentrations.

A new antigen-rich inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) in ordinary (IPV1), double (IPV2) and quadruple (IPV4) antigen concentrations was given in 2 doses to 6 and 18 week old Pakistani infants. The immune responses to poliovirus types 1 and 3 were compared to those in infants given three doses of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) at 6, 12 and 18 weeks of age. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, ELISA, was used to estimate IgG and IgA in serum and secretory IgA (SIgA) in saliva. Two to three years later, a follow-up of the serum antibody response was carried out in the same infants using a microneutralization test. Serum IgG antibody responses to poliovirus type 1 antigen after two doses of IPV1, IPV2 and IPV4 were not significantly higher than the response after three doses of OPV at 21 weeks of age (p greater than 0.05). The serum IgG responses to poliovirus type 3 were similar to those against type 1 in all the groups. Mean neutralizing antibody titres to poliovirus type 1 was significantly higher in the IPV2 group than the rest of the groups (p less than 0.01). For type 3, these titres were highest but not significantly, in the IPV4 group (p greater than 0.05). This study shows that two doses of a new antigen-rich IPV can give similar immediate serum antibody responses as OPV but higher late responses. SIgA antibodies in saliva were more efficiently induced by OPV after three doses than after 2 doses of IPV (p less than 0.05).