Persistence of Measles Antibodies After 2 Doses of Measles Vaccine in a Postelimination Environment

Abstract

Measles antibody persisted in all vaccinees available for follow-up 10 years after a second dose of vaccine, with no seronegative results detected. Declining titers suggest the need for vigilance in ensuring disease protection for the vaccinated population.

Measles in Children Vaccinated With 2 Doses of MMR

“…25 Similarly, in the United States, increased antibody titers in response to a second MMR dose rapidly returned to prebooster levels, and most subjects (72%, 13/18) with low titers 10 years after boosting were also in the lowest quartile for antibodies before boost. 26 This "return" to the level of protection afforded by the first dose based on time elapsed since the second dose is consistent with the similar VE we observed after 1 or 2 doses (95.9% vs 94.2%, respectively) during our recent school outbreak investigation. 15 The risk associated with an early age at first dose was present but less pronounced in children born to vaccinated mothers than in children born to infected mothers.…”

A large observational study to concurrently assess persistence of measles specific B-cell and T-cell immunity in individuals following two doses of MMR vaccine

“…Similar to our data, a study evaluating the persistence of measles-specific neutralizing antibodies (PRN) in relation to two different measles second-dose vaccination schedules, demonstrated no seronegatives (PRN titer<8) in a sample of 364 subjects (primarily Caucasians), 5–10 years after the second immunization [37]. This study also demonstrated waning of measles-specific antibody titers based on several follow up antibody measurements over time, while our results (based on a single antibody measurement with a median time from second measles immunization to sample collection/testing of 7.4 years [IQR 5.6; 9.2]) failed to detect any statistically significant association between antibody levels and time since last immunization (p=0.07 from univariate analysis; p=0.398 from multivariate analysis, Table 2).…”

High Concentrations of Measles Neutralizing Antibodies and High-Avidity Measles IgG Accurately Identify Measles Reinfection Cases

“…Finally, the noncases in our study may have had lower levels of measles neutralizing antibody concentrations than what is typical in the general population. The measles neutralizing antibody concentrations calculated for the 20 noncases (excluding a misclassified RIC) ranged from 165 to 13,083 mIU/ml (GMC = 1,790 mIU/ml), which is consistent with data from other studies, many of which measured measles antibody titers shortly after vaccination or revaccination ( 56 – 59 ). In one of those studies, 304 school age children who received a second dose of MMR vaccine, even those who were seronegative after the first dose, had a GMC of 2,814 mIU/ml (range, 371 to 16,400 mIU/ml) at 1 month after receipt of the second dose ( 56 ).…”