Response to trivalent oral poliovirus vaccine with and without immune serum globulin in young adults in Israel in 1988

Fifteen cases of type 1 paralytic poliomyelitis occurred in August 1988, mainly among young adults in the Jewish population of Israel, where vaccinecoverage exceeds90%. The military forces, as a precaution against further spread of the virus, vaccinated all recruits in late September. They received oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) simultaneously with prophylactic immune serum globulin (ISG) to protect against hepatitis A virus infection. Since it is generally not recommended to administer live vaccines simultaneously with ISG, the serologic response to OPV given at the same time as ISG was compared with the response when OPV was given alone; specimens were also available from a control group receiving ISG alone. No effect of ISG on the antibody response to OPV was found, and thus there appears to be no contraindication to giving OPV at the same time as injecting pooled ISG- particularly relevant for travelers to areas endemic for both diseases, who have to leave at short notice. Of recruits 18–19 years of age, 21% lacked antibodies to type 1 poliovirus, suggesting either a decline in antibody titers with age or a lack of vaccine potency during earlier years. After the booster, only 2% lacked type 1 antibody, and the geometric mean titer increased from 1:16 to 1:698.