Immunity to aerosol challenge in guinea pigs immunized with gamma-irradiated Venezuelan equine encephalitis vaccines.

In a previous report, it was shown that nonviable Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) vaccines prepared by exposure of virus suspensions produced in WI-38 cells to ionizing radiations were highly effective in protecting guinea pigs subjected to intraperitoneal (ip) challenge with VEE virus. To characterize further the efficacy of irradiated vaccines, guinea pigs were immunized with three lots of vaccine inactivated by exposure to 8 x 10(6) r of gamma rays and then were challenged via the respiratory route with aerosols of VEE virus. Animals that received a series of three ip inoculations of vaccine at 1-week intervals showed high levels of resistance to aerosol challenge. The 50% effective dose values of vaccines ranged from <0.0016 to 0.0051 ml for respiratory challenge and from <0.00074 to 0.0011 ml for intraperitoneal challenge. Serological studies showed that antigenicity of the irradiated vaccines was excellent. Moderate to high levels of serum-neutralizing and hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies were demonstrated in the majority of animals vaccinated with undiluted or 10(-1) dilutions of the vaccines. However, serum-neutralizing and hemagglutination-inhibiting antibody levels were not always indicative of the level of immunity, because some animals in which significant antibody could not be demonstrated were able to survive challenge with VEE virus.