HibMenCY-TT vaccine comparable with Hib-TT vaccine in efficacy

An investigational Haemophilus influenzae type b-Neisseria meningitidis serogroups C and Y-tetanus toxoids conjugate vaccine (HibMenCY-TT, GlaxoSmithKline) was comparable in immunogenicity when compared with H. influenzae type b and tetanus toxoids conjugate vaccine (Hib-TT; ActHIB, Sanofi-Pasteur), according to the results of a recent study.

From 2004 to 2006, researchers from Boston University and GlaxoSmithKline conducted a single blind, controlled study. They vaccinated 609 infants at ages 2, 4 and 6 months with either HibMenCY-TT or the monovalent vaccine, Hib-TT in conjunction with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis absorbed, hepatitis B and inactivated poliovirus vaccine (Pediarix, GlaxoSmithKline) and the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevnar, Wyeth).

An additional control group composed of children aged 3 to 5 years received single doses of quadrivalent meningococcal polysaccharide vaccine (MPSV4; Menomune, Sanofi-Pasteur) for comparison with infants immunized with HibMenCY-TT.

A statistically significant higher percentage of infants immunized with HibMenCY-TT had anti-polyribosylribitol phosphate concentrations greater than or equal to 1 mcg/mL when compared with Hib-TT recipients (93.5% vs. 85.8%). HibMenCY-TT also induced higher percentages of human complement bactericidal assays greater than or equal to a ratio of 1:8 for N. meningitidis serogroups C (95.9%) and Y (89.4%) than MPSV4 (30.2% and 47.5%, respectively), the researchers noted.

HibMenCY-TT produced grade-3 symptoms in 11.5% of recipients as opposed to 24.8% of infants immunized with Hib-TT within four days of vaccination, according to the researchers.

Marchant CD. Pediatr infect Dis J. 2010;29:48-52.