Attenuated, streptomycin-dependent Salmonella typhi oral vaccine: potential deleterious effects of lyophilization

Four studies were done with streptomycin-dependent Salmonella typhi as an oral, attenuated vaccine. Studies 1 and 3 employed freshly harvested vaccine, whereas studies 2 and 4 involved lyophilized vaccine. Five to eight doses (3 x 10(10)-10(11) organisms/dose) were given; oral streptomycin (1.0 g) was administered concomitantly in studies 2 and 3, with only two of the doses of vaccine in study 1, and was not given in study 4. No adverse reactions were encountered in 179 vaccinated men, and 94% of the men excreted the vaccine. In challenge studies (which included the control groups) with 10(5) virulent S. typhi organisms (Quailes strain), the fresh vaccine was highly protective (66%-78% efficacy), while lyophilized vaccine gave no clinical protection. Fresh vaccine also interfered significantly with intestinal proliferation of virulent S. typhi; only 17% of the vaccinees excreted organisms as compared with 75% of the controls. Studies of protection in mice showed no difference between immunogen content of the fresh and the lyophilized vaccines. Field trials with streptomycin-dependent, oral typhoid vaccine must await development of a lyophilized product that will retain the protective properties of the vaccine.