Issue: October 2013
September 26, 2013
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Booster dose of 4CMenB increased protection

Issue: October 2013
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A booster dose of a new vaccine that protects against meningitis B bacteria can overcome waning immunity induced by infant vaccination, according to recent study results published in CMAJ.

Perspective from Carol J. Baker, MD

Healthy children who received four doses of serogroup B meningococcal vaccine (4CMenB, Novartis) and a fifth dose of the vaccine at aged 40 to 44 months constituted the intervention group. The control group consisted of age-matched vaccine-naive participants who received 4CMenB.

Before enrollment, 41% to 76% of the intervention group had human complement serum bactericidal activity (hSBA) titers of four or more against four reference strains. Before vaccination, these rates in the control group were similar for 44/76-SL (63%) and M10713 (68%) but low for strains NZ98/254 (0%) and 5/99 (3%). The intervention group had greater increases in hSBA titers than controls after the booster dose.

“Consistent with other vaccines against meningococcal disease, a waning of hSBA titers was observed after infant vaccination with 4CMenB,” the researchers wrote. “A booster dose during preschool years was well tolerated. If 4CMenB were to be introduced into a routine vaccination schedule, measures such as adequate disease surveillance would be important to determine whether waning of antibodies might influence the effectiveness of a vaccination campaign against this bacterium.”

Disclosure: See the study for a full list of disclosures.