title: TBE booster immunization according to the rapid immunization schedule: are 3-year booster intervals really necessary?
abstract: In order to evaluate the need for further booster immunizations, 222 subjects aged 20-52 years, who had received the first booster dose with a new tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) vaccine in a preceding study, were invited for a serological follow-up. A total of 191 and 182 adult subjects were analyzed for the persistence of neutralizing TBE antibodies at 1 and 2 years following the first booster immunization, respectively. Both serological follow-ups revealed high levels of neutralizing TBE antibodies in more than 99% of subjects. Although an expected decline of the respective geometric mean titers (GMTs) was noted after booster immunization, the titers were still far above the values noted after primary immunization at the 2-year follow-up. The kinetic curve clearly indicates a longer persistence of neutralizing TBE antibodies than currently expected. To conclude, these results suggest that the administration of a further booster dose 3 years after the first one (according to current recommendations) does not seem to be necessary in this study population.
authors.affiliation: Chiron Vaccines, Marburg, Germany. olaf.zent@chiron.com
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zent
authors.forename: Annelie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Plentz
authors.forename: Tino F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.forename: Nikolaus
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Frühwein
authors.forename: Hans B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Kuhr
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Broeker
authors.forename: Angelika
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banzhoff
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jilg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000276:immunology*; D004675:Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D007115:Immunization Schedule; D007117:Immunization, Secondary / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D013997:Time Factors; D014611:Vaccination / Q000379:methods; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D014765:Viral Vaccines