Albert Bruce Sabin (/ˈseɪbɪn/SAY-bin; bornAbram Saperstejn; August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993) was a Polish-American medical researcher, best known for developing the oralpolio vaccine, which has played a key role in nearlyeradicating the disease. In 1969–1972, he served as the president of theWeizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Sabin began university in a dentistry program, but was interested invirology and changed majors. He received a bachelor's degree in science in 1928 and a medical degree in 1931 fromNew York University.[3][4]
In 1983, Sabin developed calcification of the cervical spine, which caused paralysis and intense pain.[5][6] Sabin revealed in a television interview that the experience had made him decide to spend the rest of his life working on alleviating pain.[7] This condition was successfully treated by surgery conducted atJohns Hopkins Hospital in 1992 when Sabin was 86. A year later, Sabin died inWashington, D.C., from heart failure.
Sabin went on a fact-finding trip to Cuba in 1967 to discuss with Cuban officials the possibility of establishing a collaborative relationship between the United States and Cuba through their respective national academies of sciences, in spite of the fact that the two countries did not have formal diplomatic ties.[9]
Salk developed an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), a "dead" vaccine given by injection, which was released for use in 1955.[12][13] It was effective in preventing most of the complications of polio, but did not prevent the initial intestinal infection.[13]
By carrying out autopsies of polio victims, Sabin was able to demonstrate that the poliovirus multiplied and attacked the intestines before it moved to the central nervous system. This also suggested that polio virus could be grown in other tissues besides embryonic brain tissue, leading to easier and cheaper methods of vaccine development.[3][10]John Enders,Thomas Huckle Weller, andFrederick Robbins would successfully grow poliovirus in laboratory cultures of non-nerve tissue in 1949, an achievement that earned them the 1954Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.[3]
Sabin developed anoral vaccine based on mutant strains of polio virus that seemed to stimulate antibody production but not to cause paralysis. Recipients of his live attenuated oral vaccine included himself, family, and colleagues. Sabin's first clinical trials were carried out at theChillicothe OhioReformatory in late 1954. From 1956–1960, he worked with Russian colleagues to perfect the oral vaccine and prove its extraordinary effectiveness and safety. The Sabin vaccine worked in the intestines to block the poliovirus from entering the bloodstream.[3]
Between 1955 and 1961, the oral vaccine was tested on at least 100 million people in the USSR, parts of Eastern Europe, Singapore, Mexico, and the Netherlands. The first industrial production and mass use of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) from Sabin strains was organized by Soviet scientistMikhail Chumakov.[14][15] This provided the critical impetus for allowing large-scale clinical trials of OPV in the United States in April 1960 on 180,000 Cincinnati school children. The mass immunization techniques that Sabin pioneered with his associates effectively eradicated polio in Cincinnati. Against considerable opposition from theMarch of Dimes Foundation, which supported use of Salk's relatively effective killed vaccine, Sabin prevailed on thePublic Health Service (PHS) to license his three strains of vaccine. While the PHS stalled, the USSR sent millions of doses of the oral vaccine to places with polio epidemics, such as Japan.[10]
Sabin's first oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), for use against type 1 polioviruses, was licensed in the United States in 1961. His vaccines for type 2 and type 3 polioviruses were licensed in 1962.
At first, the monovalent poliovirus vaccines were administered together by being put on asugar cube,[16] because the oral polio vaccine had a bitter, salty taste (inspiringRobert B. Sherman's lyrics toA Spoonful of Sugar (Helps the Medicine Go Down) for the1964 filmMary Poppins).[17] In 1964, a single trivalent OPV containing all three viral serotypes was approved.[13][10] Sabin's oral vaccine was easier to give than the earlier vaccine developed by Salk in 1954, and its effects lasted longer.[18] The Sabin vaccine became the predominant method of vaccination against polio in the United States for the next three decades. It broke the chain of transmission of the virus and allowed for the possibility that polio might one day be eradicated.[3][10]
Sabin also developed vaccines against other viral diseases, includingencephalitis anddengue.[19] In addition, he investigated possible links between viruses and some forms ofcancer.[20]
Sabin refused to patent his vaccine, waiving commercial exploitation by pharmaceutical industries, so that the low price would guarantee a more extensive spread of the treatment. From the development of his vaccine Sabin did not gain a penny, and continued to live on his salary as a professor. TheSabin Vaccine Institute was founded in 1993 to continue the work of developing and promoting vaccines. To commemorate Sabin's pioneering work, the institute annually awards theAlbert B. Sabin Gold Medal in recognition of work in the field ofvaccinology or a complementary field.
For the trivalent oral vaccine consisting of attenuated strains of all three types of the poliovirus, the president of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded the highest civilian honour, the medal of theOrder of Friendship Among Peoples (1986).[22][23][24]
^Sabin A.B. (1987). "Role of my cooperation with Soviet scientists in the elimination of polio: possible lessons for relations between the U.S.A. and the USSR".Perspect Biol Med.31 (1):57–64.doi:10.1353/pbm.1987.0023.PMID3696960.S2CID45655185.
^Benison S (1982). "International Medical Cooperation: Dr. Albert Sabin, Live Poliovirus Vaccine and the Soviets".Bulletin of the History of Medicine.56 (4):460–83.PMID6760938.
Emed, A (April 2000). "[Albert B Sabin (1906-1993)]".Harefuah.138 (8):702–3.PMID10883218.
Chanock, R M (March 1996). "Reminiscences of Albert Sabin and his successful strategy for the development of the live oral poliovirus vaccine".Proc. Assoc. Am. Physicians.108 (2):117–26.PMID8705731.
Dalakas, M C (May 1995). "Opening remarks. On post-polio syndrome and in honor of Dr. Albert B. Sabin".Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci.753:xi–xiv.PMID7611615.
Beumer, J (1994). "[Academic eulogy of Professor Albert Bruce Sabin, foreign honorary member]".Bull. Mem. Acad. R. Med. Belg.149 (5–7):220–4.PMID7795544.
Horaud, F (December 1993). "Albert B. Sabin and the development of oral poliovaccine".Biologicals.21 (4):311–6.doi:10.1006/biol.1993.1089.PMID8024745.
Newsom, B (June 1993). "In memoriam: Albert B. Sabin, M.D., 1906-1993".Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association (1975).89 (6): 311.PMID8320975.
Sabin, A B; Ramos-Alvarez M; Alvarez-Amezquita J; Pelon W; Michaels R H; Spigland I; Koch M A; Barnes J M; Rhim J S (June 1984). "Landmark article Aug 6, 1960: Live, orally given poliovirus vaccine. Effects of rapid mass immunization on population under conditions of massive enteric infection with other viruses. By Albert B. Sabin, Manuel Ramos-Alvarez, José Alvarez-Amezquita, William Pelon, Richard H. Michaels, Ilya Spigland, Meinrad A. Koch, Joan M. Barnes, and Johng S. Rhim".JAMA.251 (22):2988–93.doi:10.1001/jama.251.22.2988.PMID6371279.
Benison, S (1982). "International medical cooperation: Dr. Albert Sabin, live poliovirus vaccine and the Soviets".Bulletin of the History of Medicine.56 (4):460–83.PMID6760938.
Dixon, B (December 1977). "Medicine and the media: polio still paralyses (Albert Sabin, Jonas Salk)".British Journal of Hospital Medicine.18 (6): 595.PMID342023.
Draffin, R W (January 1977). "Citation for Dr. Albert B. Sabin of Charleston, S.C. on presentation of Honorary Fellowship 1976".The Journal of the American College of Dentists.44 (1):28–30.PMID320241.
