Measles antibodies in women and infants in the vaccine era.

Abstract

The present investigation was done to determine whether measles enzyme immune assay (EIA) absorbency values were lower in women born in the vaccine era after 1963 and their infants in an upstate New York metropolitan area, an area of low measles incidence during the past 10 years compared with women born before the measles vaccine era who had natural measles. Aliquots of 202 sera from mother-infant pairs collected for other purposes from November 1990 to June 1991 at Albany Medical Center Hospital were tested by EIA. The demographic data available for analysis were maternal age and infant gestational age. Measles mean absorbency values were analyzed according to maternal age. Of 202 mother-infant pairs, 30% of mothers and 17% of their infants were seronegative (EIA < 0.16). Mothers born before 1963 and their infants had significantly higher mean EIA absorbency values than mothers born after 1963 and their infants (P < 0.002). The percent seropositive for measles antibodies by EIA for mothers born before 1963 and their infants, 87% and 94%, respectively, was significantly higher than the percent seropositive for mothers born after 1963 and their infants, 61% and 69%, respectively (P = 0.0001). Since the mean measles antibodies as measured by EIA absorbency were significantly lower in the mothers born after 1963 and their infants compared with women born before the vaccine era, the strategy for measles control in the future may have to include lowering the age of infant immunization.

Kinetics of Decline of Maternal Measles Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies in Sera of Infants in France in 2006

“…Although the percentage of infants with detectable measles-neutralizing antibody levels remained around 40% for infants 7 to 8 months old, 90% of the infants included in the study had antibody concentrations under 120 mIU/ml after 6 months of age. Studies carried out in other countries have also shown that infants over 6 months of age in a well-immunized population may be poorly protected against measles (5,12,24,32,40,44).…”

“…It is recognized that measles antibody levels induced by vaccination are lower than antibody levels induced by the disease (23,24). Several studies have shown that newborns from vaccinated mothers have both lower levels of transplacentally transferred measles antibodies than infants born from women who had measles and an earlier decline in maternal antibodies (1,4,12,15,30,37,38,40).…”

“…Monovalent measles vaccine can be used in infants 6 to 8 months old who have been in contact with measles cases (10,11,16). Lowering the recommended age of vaccination was also prompted by several reports showing a rapid decline in maternal measles antibody concentrations in other well-vaccinated populations (12,24,32,40,44).…”

A study of maternally derived measles antibody in infants born to naturally infected and vaccinated women

“…[9][10][11][12] and infants born to vaccinated mothers acquire a lower level of measles antibody, which disappears at an earlier age, than infants born to mothers who have had natural measles infection . Therefore, children born to vaccinated mothers may be vulnerable to natural measles infection and be able to respond to measles vaccine at a younger age than infants of unvaccinated mothers [9,10,[12][13][14][15][16][17]. In the future, as the proportion of mothers who have been vaccinated increases, it may be possible to reduce the recommended age of measles vaccine, for all or for selected groups of children [9,10,[12][13][14].…”

“…Therefore, children born to vaccinated mothers may be vulnerable to natural measles infection and be able to respond to measles vaccine at a younger age than infants of unvaccinated mothers [9,10,[12][13][14][15][16][17]. In the future, as the proportion of mothers who have been vaccinated increases, it may be possible to reduce the recommended age of measles vaccine, for all or for selected groups of children [9,10,[12][13][14]. The aim of this study was to provide data which would assist in identifying the optimum age for vaccinating UK children in the future.…”