Andrea Hugo

Influenza vaccination of pregnant women and protection of their infants.

BACKGROUND There are limited data on the efficacy of vaccination against confirmed influenza in pregnant women with and those without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and protection of their infants. METHODS We conducted two double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) in South Africa during 2011 in pregnant women infected with HIV and during 2011 and 2012 in pregnant women who were not infected. The immunogenicity, safety, and efficacy of IIV3 in pregnant women and their infants were evaluated until 24 weeks after birth. Immune responses were measured with a hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) assay, and influenza was diagnosed by means of reverse-transcriptase-polymerase-chain-reaction (RT-PCR) assays of respiratory samples. RESULTS The study cohorts included 2116 pregnant women who were not infected with HIV and 194 pregnant women who were infected with HIV. At 1 month after vaccination, seroconversion rates and the proportion of participants with HAI titers of 1:40 or more were higher among IIV3 recipients than among placebo recipients in both cohorts. Newborns of IIV3 recipients also had higher HAI titers than newborns of placebo recipients. The attack rate for RT-PCR-confirmed influenza among both HIV-uninfected placebo recipients and their infants was 3.6%. The attack rates among HIV-uninfected IIV3 recipients and their infants were 1.8% and 1.9%, respectively, and the respective vaccine-efficacy rates were 50.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 14.5 to 71.2) and 48.8% (95% CI, 11.6 to 70.4). Among HIV-infected women, the attack rate for placebo recipients was 17.0% and the rate for IIV3 recipients was 7.0%; the vaccine-efficacy rate for these IIV3 recipients was 57.7% (95% CI, 0.2 to 82.1). CONCLUSIONS Influenza vaccine was immunogenic in HIV-uninfected and HIV-infected pregnant women and provided partial protection against confirmed influenza in both groups of women and in infants who were not exposed to HIV. (Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and others; ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT01306669 and NCT01306682.).

Duration of Infant Protection Against Influenza Illness Conferred by Maternal Immunization: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

IMPORTANCE Influenza immunization of women during pregnancy protects the young infants against influenza illness. The duration of this protection remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the duration of infant protection conferred by maternal immunization and its association with transplacental antibody transfer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS Infants born to women who participated in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in 2011 and 2012 on the safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) during pregnancy were followed up during the first 6 months of life for polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed influenza illness. In a secondary analysis of a subset of infants, hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibodies were measured. The study was performed at a single center in South Africa. The secondary analysis was performed in October 2014. EXPOSURE Maternal immunization for influenza. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The vaccines efficacy against PCR-confirmed influenza illness and the percentage of infants with HAI titers of 1:40 or more by age group. RESULTS There were 1026 infants (47.2% female) born to IIV3 recipients and 1023 infants (47.3% female) born to placebo recipients who were included in the analysis of the vaccines efficacy. The vaccines efficacy against PCR-confirmed influenza illness was highest among infants 8 weeks of age or younger at 85.6% (95% CI, 38.3%-98.4%) and decreased with increasing age to 25.5% (95% CI, -67.9% to 67.8%) among infants 8 to 16 weeks of age and to 30.3% (95% CI, -154.9% to 82.6%) among infants 16 to 24 weeks of age. Similarly, in the IIV3 group, the percentage of infants with HAI titers of 1:40 or more to the influenza vaccine strains decreased from more than 56% in the first week of life to less than 40% at 16 weeks of age and less than 10.0% at 24 weeks of age. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Maternal immunization conferred protection against infection in the infants for a limited period during early life. The lack of protection beyond 8 weeks of age correlated with a decrease in maternally derived antibodies. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01306669.

Kinetics of Hemagglutination-Inhibiting Antibodies Following Maternal Influenza Vaccination Among Mothers With and Those Without HIV Infection and Their Infants

BACKGROUND We evaluated the immunogenicity of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) in pregnant women with and those without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and the persistence of hemagglutination-inhibiting antibodies in mothers and infants. METHODS Antibodies were measured before vaccination, 1 month after vaccination, at delivery, and at postpartum week 24 in mothers and within 1 week of birth and at 8, 16, and 24 weeks of age in infants. RESULTS We enrolled 98 HIV-uninfected and 100 HIV-infected pregnant women, including 93% with a CD4(+) T-cell count of ≥ 200 cells/µL. Compared with HIV-uninfected women, HIV-infected women had lower seroconversion rates (ranging from 63%-92% vs 36%-40%), lower antibody titers through postpartum week 24, and overlapping antibody half-lives (ranging from 106-121 vs 87-153 days). Infant titers were lower than the maternal titers within 1 week of delivery, regardless of vaccine strain and HIV exposure status. Compared with HIV-unexposed infants, HIV-exposed infants had a similar transplacental influenza virus antibody transfer ratio, lower titers, and a lower frequency of titers ≥ 1:40 (ranging from 82%-95% vs 43%-79%) at birth and higher antibody half-lives (ranging from 43-45 vs 56-65 days). CONCLUSIONS Compared with HIV-uninfected pregnant women, HIV-infected pregnant women had lower antibody responses and persistence. Compared with HIV-unexposed infants, HIV-exposed infants had lower antibody levels at birth but similar antibody levels after 8 weeks of life. Early IIV3 administration during pregnancy did not decrease antibody titers among infants at birth.

Influenza vaccination of pregnant women protects them over two consecutive influenza seasons in a randomized controlled trial

ABSTRACT Background: We assessed the persistence of hemagglutinin inhibition (HAI) antibodies and the vaccine efficacy (VE) of trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) following vaccination of a cohort of pregnant South African women during a second influenza season. Methods: A cohort of women who participated in a randomized placebo-controlled trial on the safety, immunogenicity and efficacy of IIV3 in 2011 had HAI titers measured in 2012 and were monitored for influenza illness until the end of 2012. Results: The proportion of women with HAI titers ≥1:40 was significantly greater in vaccinees (63%) compared to placebo-recipients (22%; p < 0.001). VE in 2012 was 63.8% (95% confidence interval [95%CI]: −33.7%, 90.2%); combined VE for 2011 and 2012 was 58.3% (95%CI: 0.2%, 82.6%). Conclusion: The majority of women who received IIV3 during pregnancy had HAI titers above the putative threshold for protection against influenza illness one year after vaccination and showed a trend towards protection against influenza disease.

Contribution of Serologic Assays in the Evaluation of Influenza Virus Infection Rates and Vaccine Efficacy in Pregnant Women: Report From Randomized Controlled Trials

Summary Serology provided a more detailed evaluation of exposure to seasonal influenza virus. Vaccine efficacy was similar when measured for polymerase chain reaction–confirmed influenza illness (PCR-CI) or serologically diagnosed influenza infection (SDI) in pregnant women; however, vaccination prevented a greater number of SDIs than PCR-CIs.