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. 2023 Jul 14;12(7):938.
doi: 10.3390/pathogens12070938.

Rates of Seroprotection against Vaccine-Preventable Infectious Diseases in HIV-Exposed and -Unexposed Malawian Infants

Silvia Baroncelli  1 , Clementina Maria Galluzzo  1 , Stefano Orlando  2 , Maria Franca Pirillo  1 , Richard Luhanga  3 , Robert Mphwere  3 , Thom Kavalo  3 , Roberta Amici  1 , Marco Floridia  1 , Mauro Andreotti  1 , Fausto Ciccacci  4 , Paola Scarcella  2 , Maria Cristina Marazzi  5 , Marina Giuliano  1
Affiliations

Rates of Seroprotection against Vaccine-Preventable Infectious Diseases in HIV-Exposed and -Unexposed Malawian Infants

Silvia Baroncelli et al. Pathogens. .

Abstract

Background: The evaluation of seroprotection rates against vaccine-preventable infectious diseases allows for the identification of risk populations. HIV-exposed infants, even if not infected with HIV, have higher morbidity and mortality in comparison to unexposed counterparts. The aim of this study was to compare the specific IgG levels against Haemophilus influenzae type-B (HiB), Hepatitis-B (HBV), and Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) in two groups of infants (HIV-exposed and HIV-unexposed) living in Malawi.

Methods: Blood samples from 62 infants, 49 HIV-exposed, uninfected (HEU), and born to women living with HIV and 13 HIV-unexposed and uninfected (HUU), were collected at 6 months, and specific IgG levels were determined using ELISA tests.

Results: The antibody levels against HiB, HBV, and Spn were similar in the two groups. At six months, all HUU infants and 81.6% of HEU infants showed seroprotective levels against HiB, while a percentage of protection varying from 80.6 to 84.6% was observed for HBV and Spn regardless of HIV exposure. Only 59.2% of HEU and 69.2% of HUU infants showed antibody protection against all three pathogens.

Conclusions: These results indicate similar rates of seroprotection among HEU and HUU infants but also suggest that a consistent fraction of infants received incomplete vaccinations. Strategies to enforce participation in immunization programs in Malawi should be a health priority.

Keywords: Africa; HIV in utero-exposition; Haemophilus influenzae type B; IgG protective levels; Streptococcus pneumoniae; hepatitis B; infants; vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Rates of infants with protective antibody levels (HiB > 0.15 mg/L, HBV > 10.0 mUI/mL, and S. pneumoniae ≥ 50 mg/L) against the three pathogens among HEU and HUU groups. Blue: No protective levels against any pathogen. Dotted: Protective levels against only 1 pathogen. Diagonal stripes: Protective levels against 2 out of 3 pathogens. Yellow: Protective levels against all 3 pathogens.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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