# H INFLUENZAE B & S PNEUMONIAE CARBOHYDRATE VACCINES

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · 1988 · $201,282

## Abstract

Background.  Meningitis and other invasive infections due to Haemophilus
influenzae b (Hib) and pneumococci (Pn) are a major threat to child
health.  Hib is the most common bacterial agent of meningitis in U.S.
children and is fatal to 5-10% and permanently disabling to 30-50% of
patients despite therapy.  Pneumococci are the second most frequent cause
of bacterial meningitis in children (mortality, about 10%), an extreme
hazard in sickle cell patients, and the cause of a majority of cases of
otitis media.

Serum antibodies (Ab) to the capsular polysaccharide (CP) can protect
against systemic infections by these bacteria, and the purified CP can be
used as vaccines.  Immunocompetence to these antigens matures slowly,
however, and infants under 2 years old generally do not have a protective
response.  For Hib, however, anti-CP serum Ab response can be induced in
infants by injection of CP-derived oligosaccharides conjugated to a protein
carrier.  This promising result will be analyzed and extended to the Pn 6,
Pn 14, and other poorly immunogenic CPs.

Research plan.  The Hib conjugate vaccine will be varied in order to
examine the relation of immunogenicity to:  (a) the state of aggregation,
(b) the oligosaccharide chain length, (c) the residue at the non-reducing
(free) terminus of the chains, and (d) the multiplicity of chains per
protein.  A structurally different version of conjugate will be evaluated
in which both termini of the oligosaccharide are used to cross-link the
proteins.  Several different bacterial protein toxoids will be evaluated as
carriers.  Lymphocyte stimulation in vitro will be used to examine how
cellular immunity to the carrier affects the response to saccharide
attached to the carrier.

The experience gained in the Hib system will be used to prepare immunogenic
conjugates versus Pn 6 and Pn 14, pneumococcal types that are the greatest
threat in infancy.  If progress is rapid, extension to Pn types 18, 19, and
23 would be pursued.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3127546
- **Project number:** 5R01AI017938-08
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
- **SAM.gov UEI:** F27KDXZMF9Y8
- **Principal Investigator:** PORTER W ANDERSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $201,282
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1981-03-01 → 1989-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3127546

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3127546, H INFLUENZAE B & S PNEUMONIAE CARBOHYDRATE VACCINES (5R01AI017938-08). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3127546. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*