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Effects of US Gamma Globulin Upon the Incidence of Viral Hepatitis and Other Infectious Diseases in US Soldiers Abroad

A Cooperative Study

Arch Intern Med. 1971;128(5):723-738.

Abstract
A prospective double-blind study was performed in 107,803 US soldiers assigned to Korea to determine if prophylactic injections of US-derived human serum gamma globulin prevented icteric endemic viral hepatitis abroad. Each soldier received an intramuscular injection containing either 2, 5, or 10 ml of gamma globulin or a placebo solution upon arrival in Korea and 65% received a second injection of the same material five to seven months later. Gamma globulin prophylaxis significantly decreased the incidence of hepatitis and provided passive protection for about six months. The 5ml dosage produced maximal protection. Similar protection occurred in patients with both Australia antigen (HAA)-positive and HAA-negative endemic hepatitis. The severity of illness was slightly diminished in the gamma globulin-protected group. Prophylactic injections of gamma globulin did not significantly alter the incidence of other commonplace infectious diseases.

Author Affiliations
From the Division of Medicine, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC.

Footnotes
Received for publication March 12, 1971; accepted April 14.

This cooperative study was conducted by Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, US Army Medical Research and Development Command.

This material has been reviewed by US Army Medical Research and Development Command and there is no objection to its publication. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the author and are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the Department of the Army or the Department of Defense.

Reprint requests to Division of Medicine, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC 20012 (COL Marcel E. Conrad, MC, USA).

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