The status of cytomegalovirus vaccine.
Live attenuated Towne strain cytomegalovirus vaccine was evaluated in healthy volunteers and renal transplant recipients. Immunization induced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in both groups, although responses were of a higher magnitude in healthy volunteers. Immunization of candidates for renal transplantation with Towne vaccine significantly reduced the incidence of moderately severe and severe cytomegalovirus disease in high-risk recipients after transplantation. Reactivation of vaccine-strain virus was not detected. While the use of live attenuated Towne strain vaccine for prevention of primary cytomegalovirus infections in solid-organ transplant recipients and pregnant women deserves further consideration, efforts are also under way to develop a subunit cytomegalovirus vaccine.
Starr
S E
SE
Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
Friedman
H M
HM
Plotkin
S A
SA
D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D003587:Cytomegalovirus / Q000276:immunology*; D003586:Cytomegalovirus Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D014765:Viral Vaccines