BACKGROUND:
We obtained sealed vials of two different polio vaccine lots, expiration date 1955, which were used in the first U.S. polio vaccine campaign.

OBJECTIVE:
These early lots were pulled from the market because they contained live infectious poliovirus which caused polio in some of the vaccines. Theoretically, these vaccines could have contained other infectious retroviruses, including HIV.

METHOD:
RT-PCR analyses with primers capable of amplifying chimpanzee SIV and HIV-1-related viruses nor with primers for macaque SIV, sooty mangabey SIV, and HIV-2-related viruses.

RESULT:
No viral sequences were detected using the analyses mentioned in the method(s) section above. Poliovirus sequences were readily amplified by RT-PCR, suggesting that the technique used would have detected SIV or HIV sequences, if present.

CONCLUSION:
It is highly unlikely, that these contaminated early polio vaccines contributed to the HIV/AIDS epidemic into the human population.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
To continually asses whether there is a connection between the presence of contaminant viruses (i.e. Simian Virus 40) in early polio vaccines and the development of specific subsequent diseases, specifically tumors such as malignant mesothehlioma and lymphoma.