Abstract

The prevalence of IgG ELISA antibodies against Haemophilus influenzae polyribosyl ribitol phosphate (anti-Hib) was studied in two Swedish seroepidemiologic materials. One study was performed in 1997 5 years after the introduction of universal Hib vaccination (N = 3320). Ten years later, a similar study was carried out to analyze the effect of vaccination on anti-Hib prevalence (N = 2383). The median values of anti-Hib concentrations (EU/mL) were almost identical in the two materials. The antigenic pressure including vaccination, natural infections and possible cross-immunizations was thus assumed to be constant. The joint median was 0.50 EU/mL (95% confidence interval: 0.46, 0.56). However, there were also indications of reduced exposure to ‘Hib-antigens’ over a 10-year period. The proportion above the cut-off point for protection, 0.15 EU/mL, decreased significantly for children aged 2–19 years from 78% in 1997 to 74% in 2007 (p = 0.034), and there was a significant increase in values below the minimal level of detection for adults from 17% in 1997 to 20% in 2007 (p = 0.009). In the 2007 material no specific age group could be identified with a lower immune profile than other age groups older than 3 years and there was a significant downward trend of invasive infections caused by Hib according to notification data for the period 1997–2008. Therefore, the conclusion is that presently there is no need for a booster dose of Hib vaccine in Sweden after primary vaccination but the situation should be carefully monitored

Keywords

Haemophilus influenzae; vaccination; ELISA IgG anti-Hib; seroepidemiology; notifications

Published in

Acta Pathologica Et Microbiologica Scandinavica
2010, Volume: 118, number: 11, pages: 878-887

UKÄ Subject classification

Microbiology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0463.2010.02674.x

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/31169