@Hip, look in Table 3 of the Zachrisson paper. The patients had no serological response to TSST-1 from baseline to endpoint. So that may be indicating it's not likely to do anything.
I think if we are viewing the vaccine in terms of its designed purpose to combat Staphylococcus infection by boosting antibodies that disable Staphylococcus toxins and antigens, then this serological response (an increase in antibody levels against these toxins and antigens) would seem important.
However, whether those increased antibody levels might also be involved in the ME/CFS-ameliorating effect of the vaccine is hard to say.
Some of the Staphylococcus toxoids have immunomodulating effects just on their own, independent of the antibodies generated against them. For example, enterotoxin B binds to the CD28 receptor, and this receptor has been linked to autoimmune disease (more info at the bottom of
this post).
And
this study indicates how alpha toxin potently induces nitric oxide (although I am not sure if alpha
toxoid will have the same effect);
this study shows how the Russian Medgamal Staphylococcus alpha toxoid vaccine corrects the immunodeficiency caused by coxsackievirus B3 infection; and
this study indicates alpha toxin interacts with ADAM10 receptor (aka: CDw156 or CD156c), although I am not sure what this receptor does.
This study indicates that alpha toxin is a strong IL-17 inducer.
So some of the Staphylococcus toxoids are like drug compounds, that interact with specific receptors. Though I could not find any receptor that TSST-1 interacts with.
Of course, some of the Staphylococcus antigen antibodies might also have effects in the body over and above their neutralizing effect on the antigens — effects that could have an ME/CFS-ameliorating action.
Can you find out if the Staphylococcus cell wall vaccine you tried contained the entire (i.e., intact) cell walls, or just cell wall components?
Details of that cell wall vaccine I tried are give
here; it only says:
Active ingredients
Complex of the peptidoglycan and teichoic acids, microbial cells recovered from the phenol-water extraction.
Excipients
Phenol (0,2 ± 0,05)%.