Main Entry: Sa·bin vaccine

Pronunciation: \ˈsā-bin-\

Function: noun

: a polio vaccine that is taken by mouth and contains the three serotypes of poliovirus in a weakened live state—called also Sabin oral vaccine; compare salk vaccine

Sabin, Albert Bruce (1906–1993), American immunologist. Beginning in the 1930s Sabin embarked upon a research project that was to occupy his time for the next 25 years: the development of a vaccine for the prevention of poliomyelitis. From 1939 he was a professor of pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. During World War II, as a member of the army medical corps, he developed vaccines effective against dengue fever and Japanese B encephalitis. Although Jonas Salk had perfected a vaccine using virus inactivated by treatment with formaldehyde by 1954, Sabin worked on the development of a vaccine prepared from live virus that had been attenuated. In 1956 he released his vaccine for use by other researchers. A year later the World Health Organization began using the Sabin vaccine on a worldwide basis. It had several advantages over the type prepared by using virus treated with formaldehyde: it was cheaply produced, it provided lifelong immunity, and it could be given orally.