The immunogenetics of smallpox vaccination

Samuel L. Stanley, Sharon E. Frey, Patricia Taillon-Miller, Jianhua Guo, Raymond D. Miller, Daniel C. Koboldt, Michael Elashoff, Ryan Christensen, Nancy L. Saccone, Robert B. Belshe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

52 Scopus citations

Abstract

We hypothesized that individuals who develop fever after smallpox vaccination have genetically determined differences in their immune responses to vaccinia virus. We looked for an association between the development of fever and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 19 candidate genes in 346 individuals previously assessed for clinical responses to smallpox vaccination. Fever after smallpox vaccination is associated with specific haplotypes in the interleukin (IL)-1 gene complex and in the IL18 gene. A haplotype in the IL4 gene was highly significant for reduced susceptibility to the development of fever after vaccination among vaccinia-naive individuals. Our results indicate that certain haplotypes in the IL-1 gene complex and in IL18 and IL4 predict an altered likelihood of the development of fever after smallpox vaccination. Our findings also raise the possibility that these same haplotypes may identify individuals at risk for the development of fever after receipt of other live virus vaccines, providing information that could be useful in anticipating and preventing more-serious adverse events.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)212-219
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Infectious Diseases
Volume196
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 15 2007

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The immunogenetics of smallpox vaccination'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this