Meningococcal antibody titres in infants of women immunised with meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine during pregnancy

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood 1996-01, Vol.74 (1), p.F43-F46
• Main Authors: O'Dempsey, T. J., McArdle, T., Ceesay, S. J., Secka, O., Demba, E., Banya, W. A., Francis, N., Greenwood, B. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the nervous system. Bacterial myositis; Bacterial Vaccines - administration & dosage; Bacterial Vaccines - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Fetal Blood - immunology; Gambia; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Immunization; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Infants; Infectious diseases; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Medical sciences; Meningococcal Vaccines; Minority & ethnic groups; Neisseria meningitidis - immunology; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Trimester, Third; Sexually transmitted diseases; STD; Syphilis; Tropical medicine; Vaccines
• ISSN: 1359-2998; 0003-9888; 1468-2052; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/fn.74.1.F43

Seventy five Gambian women were immunised with a single dose of a group A+group C meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine during the last trimester of pregnancy. IgG antibody titres were measured in mothers and in their infants by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). All women had a good response to vaccination and maternal antibodies were high at the time of delivery (23.2 micrograms/ml for group A antibodies and 14.3 micrograms/ml for group C antibodies). However, only a proportion of this antibody crossed the placenta; cord blood:maternal antibody ratios were 30% for group A antibody and 44% for group C antibody, respectively. Considerable variability in cord blood:maternal blood ratios was seen between individuals. This could not be related to age, parity, or ethnic group. Mean group A and group C cord blood:maternal blood ratios were lower in women with serological evidence of syphilis than in seronegative women, and diminished transfer of group A antibody was noted in women with active malarial infection of the placenta. Antibody titres declined rapidly in infants and by the age of 3-4 months these had reached control values. Maternal immunisation may give infants some protection against group A and group C meningococcal disease but only during the first few months of life.