Immune response to conjugated meningococcal C vaccine in pediatric oncology patients

• Published in: Pediatric Blood & Cancer 2007-12, Vol.49 (7), p.918-923
• Main Authors: Yu, Joyce W., Borkowski, Astrid, Danzig, Lisa, Reiter, Stephanie, Kavan, Peter, Mazer, Bruce D.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; antibody response; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols - therapeutic use; B lymphocytes; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Child; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Male; Meningococcal Vaccines - administration & dosage; Meningococcal Vaccines - immunology; Neisseria meningitidis; Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup C - immunology; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - therapy; pediatric cancer; Serologic Tests; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; Treatment Outcome; vaccine; Vaccines, Conjugate - administration & dosage; Vaccines, Conjugate - immunology
• ISSN: 1545-5009; 1545-5017; 1096-911X
• DOI: 10.1002/pbc.21174

Background Following outbreaks of meningococcal disease in Quebec in 1991–1993 and 2000–2001, a mass vaccination campaign was performed. In 2001–2002, children aged 2 months to 20 years were immunized with the Meningococcal CRM197 vaccine (Menjugate™). We examined the response of pediatric oncology patients during or following maintenance chemotherapy and post‐bone‐marrow transplantation to Meningococcal C vaccine. Procedure This was an open label descriptive study of a cohort of patients from the oncology clinic at the Montreal Children's Hospital. A positive vaccine response was defined as a fourfold increase in specific IgG from baseline and a bactericidal assay using human complement (hBCA) titer >1:4. Results Of the 25 patients with ALL, 13 had a serologic response (average 60‐fold increase). The serologic responders had a higher mean B cell count (0.262) compared to non‐responders 0.068 × 10.9/L [t(23) = 2.843 (P