Carbohydrate-protein conjugate vaccines

Various pathogenic bacteria have coats of polysaccharide, many with repeating epitopes. Though polysaccharide vaccines have been available for some time, they induce mainly IgM production, and are only moderately protective in adults and ineffective in young children. It was originally shown in 1931 that the immunogenicity of polysaccharides could be enhanced by conjugating to a protein. The last two decades have witnessed the production and clinical testing of polysaccharide-protein conjugates specific for at least four different bacteria which normally cause considerable mortality and morbidity, especially in young children. In some cases, immunizing children from 4 months of age, with a booster early in the second year, has resulted in remarkably high success rates in protecting them from disease. For one pathogen, Haemophilus influenza type b, the success rate has been sufficiently high (> 95%) to suggest that this disease might, in time, be globally controlled in this way. The results of immunization with conjugate vaccines to Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningiditis and Salmonella typhi are also very encouraging. More conjugate preparations are under development.