A real-world study on the changing characteristics of measles antibodies in premature infants in China

ABSTRACT

The waning of maternal antibodies may cause infants to lose protection against measles before receiving measles-containing vaccine (MCV). The aim of this study is to investigate the changing characteristics and influencing factors of measles antibodies in preterm infants (PT), and to provide scientific basis for optimizing MCV vaccination strategy of the target population. Blood samples were collected from PT and full-term infants (FT) at the chronological age (CA) of 3, 6, and 12 months. Measles antibodies were quantitatively detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Demographic and vaccination information were both collected. Kruskal–Wallis rank sum test was used to compare the measles antibodies among different gestation age (GA) groups, and multiple linear regression was performed to identify the correlative factors for the antibodies. Measles antibodies of PT decreased significantly with age increasing before MCV vaccination. The positive rates of antibodies of PT were 10.80% and 3.30% at the age of 3 and 6 months, respectively (p < .001). At 12 months, the measles antibodies and seropositive rate in the infants who received MCV vaccination increased sharply (p < .001). Regression analyzes showed that the younger the GA or the older the age, the lower the antibodies at 3 months(p < .001，p = .018); while the lower measles antibody levels at 3 months and older age predicted the lower antibodies at 6 months(p < .001, p = .029). PT were susceptible to measles due to the low level of maternally derived antibodies before MCV vaccination. More efforts should be considered to protect the vulnerable population during their early postnatal life.

KEYWORDS:

• Measles
• measles antibody
• preterm infants
• correlative factors
• measles-containing vaccine

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the study families for their participation, the nurses and colleagues at the Children’s Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine for their dedicated assistance.

Author contributions

Chai Ji and Yan Feng: Conceptualized and designed the study, and responsible for the quality control of laboratory testing; Mingyan Li and Weiwei Zhang conducted the analysis, interpreted the data, drafted the initial manuscript, and revised the manuscript; Shuangshuang Zheng conducted the statistical analysis, Junxia Guo, Yongjun Ma and Yan Huang collected data and contributed to the laboratory testing; Hanqing He critically reviewed and revised to the revision of the manuscript. All authors: approved the final content of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Nature Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province, China [LQ 19H260003], the Medical Science and Technology Project of Zhejiang Province [2020385296] and the Research Foundation for Basic Research of shaoxing [2023A14038].