Objective: Hantaviruses cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and result in severe morbidity and mortality in humans. Safe and effective vaccines are needed to reduce the incidence of human illness. In this study, the immune response to an inactivated hantavirus vaccine was measured in 64 human volunteers for Hantavax and 10 human volunteers for a Hantaan-Puumala virus combination vaccine at high risk of infection by virtue of their residence and occupation.
Methods: A serum sample was obtained from each volunteer before the initial vaccination (day 0), 30 days after each inoculation and 1 year after the initial dose. All sera were kept at -20 degrees until tested. IgG-specific antibody titres were tested by ELISA and immunofluorescence assay (IFA). Neutralizing antibody titres were determined by a plaque reduction neutralizing test.
Results: Thirty days after vaccination, 79 and 62% of the subjects had developed a significant hantavirus antibody titre as measured by IFA and ELISA, respectively. Seroconversion rates increased to 97% 1 month after the booster dose. Neutralizing antibody titres paralleled this trend, with 13% of vaccine recipients producing neutralizing antibody 1 month after the first dose and 75% of vaccine recipients responding 1 month after boosting. Antibody titres had declined by 1 year, however, with only 37 and 43% of sera found to be positive by IFA and ELISA, respectively. Re-vaccination at this time produced a vigorous anamnestic response, with 94 and 100% of vaccine recipients yielding positive antibody titres. Only 50% of the sampled population, however, produced neutralizing antibodies following the booster dose 1 year later.
Conclusions: The vaccine was well tolerated and there were no apparent differences in the responses in human subjects. However, further improvement of this vaccine is necessary in order to induce a longer-lasting humoral immune response.