Immunogenicity of oral poliovirus vaccine administered in mass campaigns versus routine immunization programmes

Reported are the results of a study to investigate the immunogenicity of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) when administered in mass campaigns compared with that following routine immunization programmes. For this purpose, paired sera were collected from a cohort of children before and after a mass vaccination with OPV in Morocco in 1987. Serum samples and information on vaccination status and other confounding factors that could influence antibody responses to OPV were collected. Neutralizing antibody titres to poliovirus types 1, 2 and 3 were determined using a standardized assay. OPV doses administered exclusively during the mass campaign were consistently associated with higher type-specific seroprevalence rates than the same number of doses administered in the routine programme. These findings could not be attributed to differences in confounding factors. Enhanced secondary spread of vaccine virus may have occurred but could not be demonstrated because of limitations in the study design. Mass campaigns appear to be highly effective in raising the dose-related poliovirus type-specific immunity of the population above that achieved by the routine immunization programme. Our findings support the continued use of mass campaigns as an adjunct to routine programmes in order to both enhance and catalyse current efforts to achieve the global eradication of poliomyelitis by the year 2000.