Early Waning of Maternal Measles Antibodies in Infants in Zhejiang Province, China: A Comparison of Two Cross-Sectional Serosurveys

Ka Chun Chong, Yan Rui, Yan Liu, Tianyuan Zhou, Katherine Jia, Maggie Haitian Wang, Kirran N. Mohammad and Hanqing He
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Ka Chun Chong: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Yan Rui: Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310058, China
Yan Liu: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Tianyuan Zhou: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Katherine Jia: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Maggie Haitian Wang: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Kirran N. Mohammad: School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Hanqing He: Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou 310058, China

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-8

Abstract: In China, children aged <8 months, who were expected to be protected by maternal antibodies before receiving the first dose of measles vaccine, were the age group with the greatest risk of infection in recent years. In this study, we evaluated whether infants yet to be age-eligible for measles vaccine had a sufficient seropositive level of maternal measles antibodies in 2009 and 2013. Blood samples were collected from infants aged <8 months through population-based serological surveys conducted in Zhejiang, China. Serum levels of immunoglobulin G measles antibodies were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In 2013, the mean geometric mean titres (GMTs) of infants aged 4 to 8 months were below the seropositivity threshold (<200 mIU/mL), decreasing from 118.6 mIU/mL (95% confidence interval [CI] 83.0, 169.3 mIU/mL) at 4 months to 28.6 mIU/mL (95% CI 15.6, 52.3 mIU/mL) at 7 months. Antibody levels were significantly lower in 2013 than in 2009 starting from 5 months of age. In conclusion, infants aged 4 to 8 months are susceptible to measles due to low levels of maternal measles antibodies. It is thus suggested to provide infants with a supplementary dose on top of the routine schedule, and/or launch catch-up vaccination campaigns among young women.

Keywords: measles; infants; China; MV; serosurvey; maternal; waning; vaccine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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