Stability of oral polio vaccine at different temperatures

The stability of five batches of oral polio vaccine stored at −20, 4–8, 22 and 36°C for 7, 14 and 21 days was studied. The virus titrations were performed by the standard macro-method. There was little loss in virus titre when samples were kept at −20 and 4–8°C for 21 days, whereas the samples exposed to 36°C for 21 days showed almost complete loss in virus titre. The average loss in virus titre in a year (log TCID 50) was 0.47 at −20°C and 0.65 at 4–8°C when various samples were stored at these temperatures. At 22°C the average loss in virus titre after 21 days was about 1.50. The samples subjected to ten cycles of freezing and thawing did not show any loss in virus titre. Likewise there was not much loss in virus titre in three samples stored at 4–8°C for a year. Oral polio vaccine stabilized with magnesium chloride is quite a stable vaccine and maintenance of a proper cold chain is recommended for the delivery of a potent vaccine in countries with high ambient temperature.