Viral Diseases; Their Control by Immunologic Means

Abstract

It has long been held that a killed-virus antigen would not induce complete immunity, that the effect would be transient, and that many injections would be required. These preconceptions are false. An adequate antigenic stimulus with killed-virus poliomyelitis vaccine will induce long-lasting and possibly permanent effects. It is also possible that durable immunity can be induced by a single antigenic stimulus if it is sufficiently potent.

Exciting possibilities for the future include the addition to the poliomyelitis vaccines of other viruses that may behave in the same manner, to permit induction of immunity to many diseases at the same time. Very little new knowledge is required for this to be possible, and technics for acquiring the knowledge are at hand.