Antibody responses to vaccination among South African HIV-exposed and unexposed uninfected infants during the first 2 years of life
Date
2013-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Abstract
HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants born to HIV-infected mothers from areas in the world with a high burden of infectious
disease suffer higher infectious morbidity and mortality than their HIV unexposed uninfected (HUU) peers. Vaccination
provides protection from infection. The possibility exists that altered response to vaccination contributes to the higher rate of
infection in HEU than in HUU infants. While short-term, cross-sectional studies support this notion, it is unclear whether or not
HEU infants develop long-term protective immune responses following theWHOextended program on immunization (EPI).
Vaccine-specific antibody responses were compared between HEU and HUU infants from 2 weeks until 2 years of age in a longitudinal
South African cohort. Total IgG and antibodies specific for Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib),
tetanus toxoid, hepatitis B virus (HepB), and measles virus were measured at multiple time points throughout the first 2 years of
life. Prevaccine antibodies (maternal antibodies passively acquired) specific for tetanus were lower in HEU than in HUU infants,
while prevaccine antibodies to HepB were higher in HEU than in HUU infants. Both groups responded similarly to tetanus, Hib,
and HepB vaccination. HEU demonstrated stronger pertussis vaccine responses, developing protective titers 1 year earlier than
HUU patients, and maintained higher anti-tetanus titers at 24 months of age. Vaccine-induced antibodies to measles virus were
similar in both groups at all time points. Our results suggest that the current EPI vaccination program as practiced in South Africa
leads to the development of vaccine-specific antibody responses that are equivalent in HEU and HUU infants. However, our
data also suggest that a large fraction of both HEU and HUU South African infants have antibody titers for several infectious
threats that remain below the level of protection for much of their first 2 years of life.
Description
CITATION: Reikie, B. A. et al. 2013. Antibody responses to vaccination among South African HIV-exposed and unexposed uninfected infants during the first 2 years of life. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 20(1):33–38, doi: 10.1128/CVI.00557-12.
The original publication is available at http://cvi.asm.org
The original publication is available at http://cvi.asm.org
Keywords
HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants, Antibodies, Childern of HIV-positive mothers -- Health aspects, Vaccination of infants -- Effectiveness, Infection in infants -- South Africa
Citation
Reikie, B. A. et al. 2013. Antibody responses to vaccination among South African HIV-exposed and unexposed uninfected infants during the first 2 years of life. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 20(1):33–38, doi: 10.1128/CVI.00557-12.