title: Immunogenicity of Varicella Vaccine and Immunologic Predictors of Response in a Cohort of Elderly Nursing Home Residents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the immunogenicity of live-attenuated Oka/Merck varicella zoster virus (VZV)-containing vaccine (hereafter, "varicella vaccine") in frail nursing homes residents nor about immune phenotypes associated with a response.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 190 frail nursing home residents aged 80-102 years and a cohort of 50 community-dwelling seniors aged 60-75 years (a comparison group) received varicella vaccine. Interferon γ (IFN-γ) enzyme-linked immunospot assays were performed before and 6 weeks after vaccination. Cellular markers of immunosenescence were measured in the nursing home elderly.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average number of IFN-γ spot-forming cells at baseline was significantly lower in the elderly nursing home residents than in the community-dwelling seniors. However, following vaccination, the VZV immune response increased in both cohorts, and no difference was noted in the fold difference of the response between the 2 cohorts. Upon further examination of the elderly nursing home residents, we found that higher frequencies of regulatory T cells and cytomegalovirus-specific CD4+T cells correlated negatively with the magnitude of VZV-specific responses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Oka/Merck varicella vaccine induces VZV immunity in elderly nursing home residents that is similar to that produced in community-dwelling seniors.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  NCT01328548.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lelic
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.|Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.
authors.forename: Chris P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Verschoor
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: Vivian W C
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Evelegh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.|Institute of Infectious Diseases Research.
authors.forename: Dawn M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Bowdish
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.
authors.forename: Jonathan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Bramson
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine.|Institute of Infectious Diseases Research.|Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Loeb
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D058501:Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D009735:Nursing Homes
chemical_list: D019433:Chickenpox Vaccine; D007371:Interferon-gamma
keywords: T cells; immunogenicity; nursing home; vaccine; varicella zoster