Stability of further-attenuated measles vaccines.

Accelerated stability tests on lyophilized measles vaccines show two distinct mechanisms of virus inactivation. A rapid initial loss of infectivity occurs only on exposure to temperatures above the ambient temperature. This loss is temperature related and may be attributable to the movement of residual moisture from the virus pellet into the void space of the vial. Subsequent inactivation of virus occurs at all temperatures as a first-order reaction that follows Arrhenius kinetics. Integration of values for these two components allows precise prediction of vaccine stability at any temperature. Analysis of the results obtained for greater than 30 vaccines shows that those which are stable for one week at 37 C have a predicted life of more than one year at 8 C. This simple test is now being applied to the identification of unstable products. The rate of this reaction is closely, if conservatively, matched by a time-temperature color indicator, which may be useful for monitoring vaccine quality.