Series 7 -- Oral Poliovirus Vaccine

1952-1993 - 25 boxes - 12.5 linear feet

Biographical History

Sabin was one of several polio researchers working to develop an attenuated live virus vaccine. His was ready for testing on human volunteers by the mid-1950s; he and other polio investigators worldwide initiated studies. Sabin began his testing in 1954 with volunteers at a correctional facility in Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1956, a medical team from the Soviet Union visited the United States to study poliomyelitis and the Salk vaccine. One of their stops was Sabin's laboratory in Cincinnati. After months of study and consultation about polio and both vaccines, the medical establishment in the Soviet Union decided to use Sabin's vaccine in a mass immunization program later that year. The success of the Soviet program figured significantly in the subsequent decision to license and produce Sabin's vaccine in the US. Other countries, such as Mexico and Czechoslovakia, also participated in large field trials. The first community-wide immunization program in the US began on April 24, 1960 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The success of these studies, trials and programs eventually assisted efforts in the US to switch from an inactivated vaccine to a live, attenuated one. Sabin's vaccine was chosen, licensed, and approved for use in the US in 1961 and subsequently became the vaccine of choice for the US and most other countries. Although numerous pharmaceutical companies produced the vaccine globally, Sabin closely monitored, approved, and often inspected its manufacture to ensure maintenance of quality production standards. In 1972, production responsibility and oversight transferred from Sabin to the World Health Organization, however, his expertise and input were often solicited.

Scope and Content Note

This series is divided into nine sub-series: Cincinnati Program, Committees and Conferences, Correspondence, Data, Miscellaneous, Production, Soviet Union, Studies, and the World Health Organization. At the beginning of each sub-series, a bracketed note describes the sub-series' arrangement, i.e. whether chronological or alphabetical. Major correspondents include Mikhail Chumakov, James Gear, Hilary Koprowski, Herald Cox, Jonas E. Salk, Henry Gelfand, John Fox, Joel Warren, Saul Krugman, Frank T. Perkins, Charles Cockburn, Roderick Murray, and Dorothy Horstmann among many others. This series documents the above-mentioned events as well as many others that led to the development, production, and international use of the oral vaccine. Information can also be found here on many pharmaceutical companies, the Salk vaccine, and others' efforts to develop a live, oral vaccine. Because information relating to Sabin's vaccine can be found in numerous places throughout his collection, researchers are advised to consult the index in order to find other relevant material. Other series in which significant information on the oral poliovirus vaccine can be found are Poliomyelitis, Laboratory Notebooks, and Professional Affiliations and Memberships. In the latter, the materials most relevant can be found under Institutions: National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis.