title: Kinetics of antibody production to group A and group C meningococcal polysaccharide vaccines administered during the first six years of life: prospects for routine immunization of infants and children.
abstract: A cohort of infants, previously immunized once or twice between three and 12 months of age with vaccines containing polysaccharide of groups A and C Neisseria meningitidis, received boosters at two and five and one-half years of age with bivalent A/C vaccine. Antibody concentrations were measured by a radioactive antigen-binding assay. Concentrations of antibody to groups A and C N. meningitidis were 5.59 and 2.86 microgram/ml, respectively, by four years of age. After booster immunization at five and one-half years of age, concentrations of antibody to groups A and C N. meningitidis increased to 15.67 and 7.59 microgram/ml, respectively. Protective levels of antibody to group A meningococci may be achievable throughout early childhood by routine immunization with the A vaccine. Although the group C vaccine is effective in control of epidemics, the rapid decline in the concentration of antibody to group C meningococci following immunization of young children suggests that protection may not be long-lasting.
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007114:Immunization; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007223:Infant; D007700:Kinetics; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000276:immunology*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial