SEROLOGIC RESPONSE OF ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVORS FOLLOWING ASIAN INFLUENZA VACCINATION

The effect of atomic bomb radiation on antibody production was studied among persons living in 1961 who were exposed while in-utero to the atomic bomb in either Hiroshima or Nagasaki. They were inoculated with an Asian influenza virus vaccine. The relationship between the distance from the hypocenter at the time of the bombing and production of complement-fixing antibody to various types of influenza A virus was observed. The doctrine of original antigenic sin was applied to determine the effect. Patterns of the antibody levels in the group beyond 3, 000 m suggested that the virus of primary infection in the survivors was type Al. Significantly reduced Al type serum antibody levels were noted in both pre-and postvaccination sera of the subjects within 2, 000 m from hypocenter in Nagasaki. The effect of a previous radiation exposure appeared much more clearly in heterotypic antibody response following Asian influenza vaccination, that is, the antibody responses to type Al viruses were almost completely suppressed in the subjects exposed within 1, 600 m in both cities despite the fact that the antibody responses to type A viruses were similar to those in the group beyond 3, 000 m. In contrast, homotypic antibody response to Asian type virus was rather enhanced in the subjects proximal exposed.