[Influence of maternal antibodies on the primary and secondary immunoresponse of the juvenile organism (author's transl)]

Abstract

The immunization of mice with sheep erythrocytes served as model for the materno-fetal transfer of specific antibodies. It could be shown that passively transferred antibodies are able to induce a long-lasting suppression of the primary and secondary immuno-response in the offspring. This holds true both for active immunization before pregnancy and for passive immunization shortly before term. As it can be supposed that similar effects also apply to the human organism, this phenomenon must be considered for the vaccination during pregnancy as well as for the first immunization of children.