Past, present, and future of measles, mumps, and rubella virus vaccines

It is a real pleasure for me to speak on this memorable occasion. Dr Saul Krugman is now entering his ninth decade while enjoying the world status of senior statesman! Saul and I have collaborated often during the last three of these decades. In the studies of new vaccines in our laboratories, our first clinical probes were made in cooperative studies with the late Dr Joseph Stokes and his colleagues and successors at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Following such initial phase, Dr Krugman received the vaccines for expanded clinical studies. Hence, he has been an indispensible clinical partner in most of the new viral vaccine developments in our laboratories during the past 30 years. In discussions with Dr Wade Parks, I was advised that I might speak on any subject I choose. I chose to talk about the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (M-M-R), a topic that has occupied Dr Krugman for nearly three decades and that is receiving renewed attention in the worlds of pediatrics and public health at the present time. This being a festive occasion, I feel I should keep it light. Therefore, I want to emphasize the science, but also to recount some of the less well-known "behind-the-scenes" activities that led to the creation and birth of M-M-R. There were lessons learned that might provide historic insight into problems that can be avoided in the future. MEASLES Measles vaccine began when the late Dr John Enders and Dr Samuel Katz and their coworkers developed and tested their Edmonston strain of attenuated live measles virus.1