Waning immunity to measles in young adults and booster effects of revaccination in secondary school students

Vaccine. 2013 Jan 7;31(3):533-7. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.11.014. Epub 2012 Nov 14.

Abstract

The increasing proportions of adult cases were observed in the recent measles outbreaks in Zhejiang Province, China. In order to identify the high-risk age groups of measles for targeted intervention, a seroprevalence survey of measles antibody was conducted among 1961 participants aged 0-60 years randomly selected by age-stratified purpose sampling, and the effect of revaccination program in secondary school was evaluated in Zhejiang Province. The adjusted overall seropositivity rate of measles was 88% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 86-89%) with geometric mean titers (GMT), 976±86 mIU/ml. The seropositivity rate of measles was significantly lower in subjects aged 15-19 years than aged 5-9 years (90% vs 96%, χ(2)=5.21, p=0.022). Both seropositivity rate and GMT level of measles were higher in participants aged 10-14 years with ≥2 doses MCV than those with only 1 dose (95% vs 81%, 1276 mIU/ml vs 666 mIU/ml). The seropositivity rate increased from 91% to 100% after revaccination with MCV among 184 secondary school students. The proportions of measles cases aged ≥15 years were reduced gradually (χ(2)=55.47, p=0.000) from 2009 to 2011 after implementing the revaccination campaign on secondary school students since 2008. Our findings strongly suggested that a revaccination opportunity with MCV for adolescents helps to improve the population immunity, and it can be conducted effectively and practically in secondary school students.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • China
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunization, Secondary / methods*
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Measles / immunology*
  • Measles / prevention & control*
  • Measles Vaccine / administration & dosage*
  • Measles Vaccine / immunology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Schools
  • Seroepidemiologic Studies
  • Students
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Measles Vaccine