[Effect of multiple vaccination against influenza on the specificity of humoral immunity]

The influence of multiple vaccinations against influenza on humoral immunity specificity was studied by titration of sera from the vaccinees and non-vaccinees in radial hemolysis test (RHT). In order to determine the specificity of antihemagglutinins, the sera were adsorbed with the appropriate antigen followed by titration in RHT. The study showed the sera from vaccinees to contain the strain-specific antibody much more frequently, the titres and content being especially high to the vaccine A/Bangkok/1/79 strain used for large-scale vaccination of the human population in the three years preceeding the study. Fewer sera of the vaccinees contained cross-reacting antibodies. Both in vaccinees and non-vaccinees the total number of sera with antibody to the A/Bangkok/1/79 and A/Moscow/30/83 strains was approximately similar, however, antibody mean titre to these epidemiologically important strains was significantly higher in the vaccinees. The results of the study explain the narrow specificity of the protective effect of whole-virion inactivated vaccines used for mass immunization of the human population.