Attenuated Rubella Virus

THE intensive research effort of the past few years has greatly increased the knowledge of rubella virus and of the infections that it causes. Despite these advances the search for a live-virus vaccine has been disappointing, and there has been no published evidence that the virus could be attenuated. Several investigators have tested tissue-culture-propagated rubella viruses in man.1 2 3 In these studies typical rubella with rash developed in inoculated subjects, and the disease spread to uninoculated persons.In our laboratory protracted serial passage of rubella viruses in primary African green-monkey-kidney (GMK) cell cultures provided 2 virus strains that exhibited modified biologic . . .