Immunosuppression after measles vaccination.
The influence of conventional live attenuated measles vaccine on cellular immune responsiveness was investigated in Sweden and Guinea-Bissau. Sixteen children in a residential area in Bissau and 16 living in southern Stockholm were examined before and 8-10 days after vaccination. Lymphoproliferation was measured to concanavalin A (con-A), PPD and tetanus toxoid (TT) using a whole-blood 3H-thymidine incorporation assay. Stimulation indices were significantly lower after vaccination than before, in the case of con-A (p = 0.03) and TT (p = 0.01) in the Guinean children and in the case of PPD (p = 0.009) and TT (p = 0.03) in the Swedish children. Stimulation of lymphocytes from measles-immune children with measles antigens resulted in weak lymphoproliferative responses. These observations may be relevant to the increased mortality found in children immunized with high-titre measles vaccines, as compared to controls, in recent studies. The study confirms the applicability and usefulness under field conditions of the whole blood version of the thymidine incorporation assay.
Smedman
L
L
Department of Immunology, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Joki
A
A
da Silva
A P
AP
Troye-Blomberg
M
M
Aronsson
B
B
Perlmann
P
P
D002675:Child, Preschool; D006169:Guinea-Bissau; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007223:Infant; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008458:Measles Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology*; D013548:Sweden; D013936:Thymidine / Q000378:metabolism
D008458:Measles Vaccine; D013936:Thymidine