Use of attenuated live mumps virus vaccine during a “virgin soil” epidemic of mumps on St. Paul Island, Alaska. Amer. J. Epid., 1970, 92: 301–306.—During a “virgin soil” epidemic of mumps at St. Paul, Alaska, live attenuated mumps virus vaccine was administered to a portion of the population to determine its efficacy as a current anti-epidemic measure. Also, a number of adults had received two doses of inactivated mumps virus vaccine two years prior to the epidemic, enabling determination of the residual efficacy of this material. The majority of individuals receiving killed vaccine failed to show detectable serum neutralizing antibody against mumps two years subsequent to immunization, and no decreased risk of illness or infection could be demonstrated for this group. A marked reduction in clinical illness rate in relation to the nonvaccinated comparison group was shown only for those individuals receiving live vaccine who were over the age of 34. However, administration of live virus vaccine was likely responsible for extinction of the epidemic prior to exhaustion of the pool of susceptibles
Notes
From: Fortuine, Robert et al. 1993. The Health of the Inuit of North America: A Bibliography from the Earliest Times through 1990. University of Alaska Anchorage. Citation number 2020.