title: Humoral immunity and correlation between ELISA, hemagglutination inhibition, and neutralization tests after vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis virus in children.
abstract: Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus is the measure of choice for disease control in endemic areas, as no treatment is available. In Italy, the province of Belluno is one of the most active TBE virus infection foci. In this study sera were examined from vaccinated children living in areas around Belluno in order to monitor the immune response after anti-TBE vaccination. For the assessment of neutralizing antibodies, a plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) was optimized and the correlation between enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), hemaglutination inhibition (HI), and neutralizing antibodies titers was evaluated. All children had high serum levels of TBE IgG in ELISA test after the vaccination, in agreement with previous studies. HI and PRNT titers ranged between very low and high levels. A good correlation between HI and PRNT titers, and with IgG ELISA titers, was observed. PRNT is an useful assay for monitoring protective immunity after the completion of anti-TBE vaccination. This type-specific assay is an important tool for differential diagnosis in cases where the presence of cross-reactive antibodies due to other flavivirus infections or vaccinations cannot be excluded.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-Mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome 00161, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulietta
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Venturi
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mel
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marchi
authors.forename: Sebastiano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mancuso
authors.forename: Floriana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Russino
authors.forename: Giusi Da
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Pra
authors.forename: Nunziato
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Papa
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bertiato
authors.forename: Cristiano
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fiorentini
authors.forename: Maria Grazia
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ciufolini
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000276:immunology*; D004675:Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014611:Vaccination; D010948:Viral Plaque Assay
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral