Response of hemophilic patients to poliovirus vaccination: Correlation with HIV serology and with immunological parameters

Hemophilic patients may present immunological dysfunctions resulting from either human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, or other factors like impure factor VIII concentrate and other viral infections. We evaluated prospectively the serologic response to polio vaccination of Israeli hemophilic patients who were vaccinated during an outbreak of poliomyelitis. Eighty‐two hemophilic patients, 43 seronegative and 39 seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), were vaccinated with enhanced inactivated poliovirus (elPV). Titers of antibodies for poliovirus types 1–3 were determined before and 4 weeks after immunization. T helper and suppressor lymphocytes (T4 and T8), B and T lymphocyte mitogenic response, and natural killer cells were tested and correlated with the response to vaccination. Both groups responded to vaccination with increased titers of antibodies to the three viral types, 4 weeks after immunization. HIV‐seronegative patients, however, exhibited higher titers than the HIV‐seropositive group. The same pattern was found when 21 patients were tested 1 year after the exposure to elPV. HIV seropositive patients were grouped according to their T4 count (between 16/μ and 500/μ). There was no statistically significant difference in the response of these different groups to vaccination. No correlation was found between the response to vaccination and other immune parameters. These results suggest that asymptomatic HIV‐seropositive hemophilic patients respond well to elPV, irrespective of their T4 count. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.