[Methodological principles of the determination of the information value of laboratory evaluation of the immunogenicity and reactivity of vaccines].

The correlation between the reactogenicity and immunogenicity characteristics of different smallpox vaccines, determined under the conditions of a strictly controlled field trial, has been studied by a number of laboratory tests. The most informative and reproducible laboratory methods for evaluating the provisory antigenic and immunogenic potency of smallpox vaccines are the evaluation of the character of lesions developing in rabbits as a result of the intradermal injection of the virus and the determination of the capacity of the virus for multiplication in the skin of a rabbit (reproduction). The most informative and reproducible method for evaluating the provisory reactogenicity of smallpox vaccines for humans is the determination of the capacity of the virus for multiplication at elevated temperature.