Long-term measles antibody profiles following different vaccine schedules in China, a longitudinal study

• Published in: Nature communications 2023-03, Vol.14 (1), p.1746-1746, Article 1746
• Main Authors: Wang, Qianli, Wang, Wei, Winter, Amy K., Zhan, Zhifei, Ajelli, Marco, Trentini, Filippo, Wang, Lili, Li, Fangcai, Yang, Juan, Xiang, Xingyu, Liao, Qiaohong, Zhou, Jiaxin, Guo, Jinxin, Yan, Xuemei, Liu, Nuolan, Metcalf, C. Jessica E., Grenfell, Bryan T., Yu, Hongjie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 101/1; 631/326/590; 631/326/596/1631; 692/699/255/2514; 692/700/478/174; Adolescent; Antibodies; Antibodies, Viral; Child; Children; China - epidemiology; Health risks; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Immune response; Immune system; Immunity; Immunization; Infant; Kinetics; Longitudinal Studies; Measles; Measles - epidemiology; Measles - prevention & control; Measles Vaccine; multidisciplinary; Prospective Studies; Schedules; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vaccination; Vaccines
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37407-x

Characterizing the long-term kinetics of maternally derived and vaccine-induced measles immunity is critical for informing measles immunization strategies moving forward. Based on two prospective cohorts of children in China, we estimate that maternally derived immunity against measles persists for 2.4 months. Following two-dose series of measles-containing vaccine (MCV) at 8 and 18 months of age, the immune protection against measles is not lifelong, and antibody concentrations are extrapolated to fall below the protective threshold of 200 mIU/ml at 14.3 years. A catch-up MCV dose in addition to the routine doses between 8 months and 5 years reduce the cumulative incidence of seroreversion by 79.3–88.7% by the age of 6 years. Our findings also support a good immune response after the first MCV vaccination at 8 months. These findings, coupled with the effectiveness of a catch-up dose in addition to the routine doses, could be instrumental to relevant stakeholders when planning routine immunization schedules and supplemental immunization activities. The timing of measles vaccination in infants affects the risk of infection in young children and the duration of protection provided. Here, the authors investigate optimal vaccination timing by characterising antibody kinetics following different vaccine schedules in two cohorts of children in southern China.