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Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, October 2007, p. 1328-1333, Vol. 14, No. 10
1071-412X/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/CVI.00191-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Immunisation Department, Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom,1 Statistics, Modelling and Economics Department, Centre for Infections, Health Protection Agency, London, United Kingdom,2 Gloucester Vaccine Evaluation Unit, Health Protection Agency, Gloucester, United Kingdom,3 Immunoassay Laboratory, Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response, Health Protection Agency, Salisbury, United Kingdom,4 Vaccine and Immunisation Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute and School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,5 Immunoassay Laboratory, Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom6
Received 9 May 2007/ Returned for modification 10 July 2007/ Accepted 6 August 2007
In response to the rising incidence of Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) disease in the United Kingdom, a national campaign to give a booster dose of single-antigen Hib conjugate vaccine to children aged 6 months to 4 years was undertaken in 2003. Children (n = 386) eligible for Hib vaccine in the campaign were recruited. Hib antibody concentrations were measured before boost and at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after boost and were analyzed according to children's ages at booster dose and whether a Hib combination vaccine containing acellular pertussis (aP) or whole-cell pertussis (wP) components was given in infancy. The geometric mean antibody concentrations (GMCs) before the booster declined as the time since primary immunization increased (P < 0.001), and GMCs were threefold higher in recipients of wP-Hib than aP-Hib combination vaccines (P < 0.001). GMCs 1 month after the booster increased with age (P < 0.001) as follows: 6 to 11 months; 30 µg/ml (95% confidence interval [CI], 22 to 40); 12 to 17 months, 68 µg/ml (95% CI, 38 to 124); and 2 to 4 years, 182 µg/ml (151 to 220), with no difference according to the type of priming vaccine received. Antibody levels declined after the booster, but 2 years later, GMCs were more than 1.0 µg/ml for all age groups. By extrapolating data for the decline in antibody levels, we found the GMCs 4 years after boosting were predicted to be 0.6, 1.4, and 2.6 µg/ml for those boosted at 6 to 11 months, 12 to 17 months, and 2 to 4 years, respectively, with levels of at least 0.15 µg/ml in about 90% of individuals. A booster dose of Hib vaccine given after the first year of life should provide long-lasting protection.
Published ahead of print on 15 August 2007.
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