The antigenicity of whole virus versus subunit trivalent influenza vaccines -- a field trial in the Israel Defence Forces, 1978.

A single dose of a commercial trivalent influenza subunit vaccine (SV) and two whole virus vaccines (WVV) were compared in a randomized, placebo-controlled field trial of subjects under 23 years of age in the Israel Defence Forces. Sixty percent of SV recipients and 29% and 37% of WVV recipients showed no measurable response to the H1N1 subtype (A/USSR). When the prevaccination titer to H1N1 was less than 10, SV did not differ significantly from the placebo, and when greater than or equal to 10, the SV was poorer than the WVV. Response to the H3N2 (A/Texas) component was excellent, but when the prevaccination titer was less than 10, SV appeared less immunogenic than WVV. All three vaccines performed equally against the B/Hong Kong strain.