title: Induction of immunologic refractoriness in adults by meningococcal C polysaccharide vaccination.
abstract: Thirty-four adults were vaccinated with 1/50 of the usual dose of meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (1 microg of A, C, Y, and W135 polysaccharides, given intramuscularly). This dose was selected as a probe to assess B cell memory. The probe elicited meningococcal C bactericidal antibody responses in all 18 adults who had been vaccinated 4 years earlier with an investigational meningococcal A and C oligosaccharide-protein conjugate vaccine and in the majority of the 11 subjects vaccinated for the first time. In contrast, the responses of the 5 adults given a full dose of licensed polysaccharide vaccine 4 years earlier were <1/10 of those of the other 2 groups. Thus, adults previously given a full dose of meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine show evidence of immunologic refractoriness to group C polysaccharide, whereas refractoriness is not observed after conjugate vaccination. These findings have implications for the use of meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine when the risk of disease is low.
authors.affiliation: Chiron Vaccines, Chiron Corp., Emeryville, California 94608-2916, USA. dan_granoff@cc.chiron.com
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Granoff
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Belshe
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D008875:Middle Aged; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000276:immunology*; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D022401:Meningococcal Vaccines; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate; C043226:meningococcal group A polysaccharide; C037676:meningococcal group C polysaccharide