Follow-up study of a vaccination programme against cutaneous leishmaniasis. Ii. vaccination with a recently isolated strain of l. tropica from jericho

A group of young adults who lived for 9 months in an area of hyperendemic cutaneous leishmaniasis in the Jericho plain, were vaccinated with the Jericho strain of Leishmania tropica. Vaccination was successful in all and no morbidity due to natural infection occurred in this group. In a control group over 30% of adults became naturally infected during the same period. The clinical progress of the inoculation sores was similar to that of the naturally acquired infection. Leishmanin prepared from the potent Jericho strain was found to give significantly better results than leishmanin prepared from another strain of L. tropica which had lost lost its infectivity for man. The considerations governing the use of vaccination in an endemic area are discussed.