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AJPH First Look, published online ahead of print Apr 26, 2005
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American Journal of Public Health, 10.2105/AJPH.2004.040790

Public Health Then and Now

Passive Immunization Against Poliomyelitis: The Hammon Gamma Globulin Field Trials, 1951-1953

Charles R. Rinaldo 1*

1 University of Pittsburgh

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rinaldo{at}pitt.edu.


  Abstract

Poliomyelitis has gone from being one of the worst scourges of the 20th century to nearing eradication in the 21st. This success is well known to be attributable to the Salk inactivated and Sabin attenuated poliovirus vaccines. However, before introduction of these vaccines, William McDowall Hammon of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health led the first major breakthrough in prevention of the disease by using passive immunization in one of the earliest double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials. This study provided the first evidence that antibodies to poliovirus could prevent the disease in humans. Here I describe the historic trial.

Key Words: Immunization/Vaccines, Infections, Maternal and Infant Health, Prevention




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Correction to "Passive Immunization Against Poliomyelitis"
Vincent R Racaniello
AJPH Online, 16 May 2005 [Full text]

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Copyright © 2005 by the American Public Health Association