Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Ceesay, S J
• Allen, S J
• Menon, A
• Todd, J E
• Cham, K
• Carlone, G M
• Turner, S H
• Gheesling, L L
• DeWitt, W
• Plikaytis, B D

Titel

Decline in meningococcal antibody levels in African children 5 years after vaccination and the lack of an effect of booster immunization

Ist Teil von

• The Journal of infectious diseases, 1993-05, Vol.167 (5), p.1212

Ort / Verlag

United States

Erscheinungsjahr

1993

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

MEDLINE

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Antibodies to group A meningococcal polysaccharide were measured by hemagglutination (HA) and by ELISA in sera obtained from Gambian children before vaccination and 3 weeks, 2 years, and 5 years after vaccination with a group A + group C meningococcal capsular polysaccharide vaccine. Children were 1-4 years old at the time of vaccination. Most showed a good initial response to vaccination, including those aged 1-2 years. However, antibody titers declined progressively during follow-up, and 5 years after vaccination, antibody titers measured by both HA and ELISA had returned to prevaccination levels. This decline was not influenced significantly by a booster dose of vaccine given 2 years after initial immunization. Administration of malaria chemoprophylaxis reduced the rate at which antibody levels fell after initial immunization. Sustained protection of children against group A meningococcal disease will require the development of vaccines that are immunogenic in infants and that can induce T cell memory.