Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Sep 26;12(9):e0185284.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185284. eCollection 2017.

Survey of poliovirus antibodies in Borno and Yobe States, North-Eastern Nigeria

Mustapha Modu Gofama  1 , Harish Verma  2 , Hamisu Abdullahi  3 , Natalie A Molodecky  2 , Kehinde T Craig  3 , Utibe-Abasi Urua  4 , Mohammed Ashir Garba  1 , Mohammed Arab Alhaji  1 , William C Weldon  5 , M Steven Oberste  5 , Fiona Braka  3 , Ado J G Muhammad  4 , Roland W Sutter  2
Affiliations

Survey of poliovirus antibodies in Borno and Yobe States, North-Eastern Nigeria

Mustapha Modu Gofama et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Nigeria remains one of only three polio-endemic countries in the world. In 2016, after an absence of 2 years, wild poliovirus serotype 1 was again detected in North-Eastern Nigeria. To better guide programmatic action, we assessed the immunity status of infants and children in Borno and Yobe states, and evaluated the impact of recently introduced inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) on antibody seroprevalence.

Methods and findings: We conducted a facility-based study of seroprevalence to poliovirus serotypes 1, 2 and 3 among health-seeking patients in two sites each of Borno and Yobe States. Enrolment was conducted amongst children 6-9 and 36-47 months of age attending the paediatrics outpatient department of the selected hospitals in the two states between 11 January and 5 February 2016. Detailed demographic and immunization history of the child was taken and an assessment of the child's health and nutritional state was conducted via physical examination. Blood was collected to test for levels of neutralizing antibody titres against the three poliovirus serotypes. The seroprevalence in the two age groups, potential determinants of seropositivity and the impact of one dose of IPV on humoral immunity were assessed. A total of 583 subjects were enrolled and provided sufficient quantities of serum for testing. Among 6-9-month-old infants, the seroprevalence was 81% (74-87%), 86% (79-91%), and 72% (65-79%) in Borno State, and 75% (67-81%), 74% (66-81%) and 69% (61-76%) in Yobe States, for serotypes-1, 2 and 3, respectively. Among children aged 36-47 months, the seroprevalence was >90% in both states for all three serotypes, with the exception of type 3 seroprevalence in Borno [87% (80-91%)]. Median reciprocal anti-polio neutralizing antibody titers were consistently >900 for serotypes 1 and 2 across age groups and states; with lower estimates for serotype 3, particularly in Borno. IPV received in routine immunization was found to be a significant determinant of seropositivity and anti-polio neutralizing antibodies among 6-9-month-old infants for serotypes 1 and 3, but demonstrated a non-significant positive association for serotype 2. Children receiving IPV through SIAs demonstrated significantly higher anti-polio neutralizing antibodies for serotypes 1 and 3.

Conclusions: The seroprevalence to poliovirus remains suboptimal in both Borno and Yobe States in Nigeria. The low seroprevalence facilitated the continued transmission of both wild serotype 1 and serotype 2 circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus detected in Borno State in 2016. Further efforts are necessary to improve the immunity status of these populations to ensure sufficient population immunity to interrupt transmission.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Spatio-temporal distribution of wild poliovirus (WPV) type 1 and 3 and cVDPV2 cases between 2012 and 2015 in Nigeria.
Colour of dots and bars correspond to virus type, with red, blue and green corresponding to WPV serotypes 1 and 3 and cVDPV2 cases, respectively. (A) Spatial distribution of WPV serotypes 1 and 3 and cVDPV2. Grey shading in Borno and Yobe States. (B) Monthly incidence of WPV serotypes 1 and 3 and cVDPV2. Darker bars correspond to number of cases from Borno and Yobe.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Seroprevalence and 95% confidence intervals, by poliovirus serotype and age group, Borno and Yobe States, North-Eastern Nigeria, 2016.
(A) Borno; and (B) Yobe.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. GPEI. Data and monitoring. Wild poliovirus. [26 January 2017]. Available from: http://www.polioeradication.org/Dataandmonitoring/Poliothisweek/Wildpoli....
    1. GPEI. Data and monitoring. Wild poliovirus. [15 February 2017]. Available from: http://polioeradication.org/polio-today/polio-now/.
    1. Etsano A, Damisa E, Shuaib F, Nganda G, Enemaku O, Usman S, et al. Environmental Isolation of Circulating Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus After Interruption of Wild Poliovirus Transmission—Nigeria, 2016. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2016;65:770–773. http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6530a4. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm6530a4 - DOI - DOI - PubMed
    1. Roberts S. Nigeria's invisible crisis. Science. 2017;356(6333):18–23. [doi: 10.1126/science.356.6333.18]. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Iliyasu Z, Verma H, Craig KT, Nwaze E, Ahmad-Shehu A, Jibir BW, et al. Poliovirus seroprevalence before and after interruption of poliovirus transmission in Kano State, Nigeria. Vaccine. 2016;34(42):5125–31. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2016.08.058 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Substances

LinkOut - more resources