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Factors that influence infant immunity and vaccine responses

Factors that influence infant immunity and vaccine responses
Factors that influence infant immunity and vaccine responses

The neonatal period and early infancy are times of increased vulnerability to infection. The immune system of infants undergoes rapid changes and a number of factors can influence the maturation and function of the early infant immune system, amongst these factors are maternal infections and immunity. Infants who are HIV-exposed, but uninfected show important immune alterations, which are likely to be associated with the increased morbidity and mortality observed in these infants. Maternally derived antibodies are crucial in early life to protect infants from infection during the time when their own immune system is becoming more experienced and fully mature. However, maternal antibodies can also interfere with the infant's own antibody responses to primary vaccination. Preterm infants are particularly vulnerable to infection, having not had the opportunity to benefit from the transplacental transfer of maternal antibodies in late pregnancy. In addition, further differences have been observed in the innate and adaptive immune system between preterm and term infants. Here, we focus on maternal influences on the infant immune system, using HIV and maternal vaccination as examples and finish by considering how prematurity impacts infant immune responses to vaccination.

0891-3668
S40-S46
Zimmerman, Petra
b8b168b1-9c8a-42f1-a176-69b93583133c
Jones, Christine E
48229079-8b58-4dcb-8374-d9481fe7b426
Zimmerman, Petra
b8b168b1-9c8a-42f1-a176-69b93583133c
Jones, Christine E
48229079-8b58-4dcb-8374-d9481fe7b426

Zimmerman, Petra and Jones, Christine E (2021) Factors that influence infant immunity and vaccine responses. The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, 40 (5), S40-S46. (doi:10.1097/INF.0000000000002773).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The neonatal period and early infancy are times of increased vulnerability to infection. The immune system of infants undergoes rapid changes and a number of factors can influence the maturation and function of the early infant immune system, amongst these factors are maternal infections and immunity. Infants who are HIV-exposed, but uninfected show important immune alterations, which are likely to be associated with the increased morbidity and mortality observed in these infants. Maternally derived antibodies are crucial in early life to protect infants from infection during the time when their own immune system is becoming more experienced and fully mature. However, maternal antibodies can also interfere with the infant's own antibody responses to primary vaccination. Preterm infants are particularly vulnerable to infection, having not had the opportunity to benefit from the transplacental transfer of maternal antibodies in late pregnancy. In addition, further differences have been observed in the innate and adaptive immune system between preterm and term infants. Here, we focus on maternal influences on the infant immune system, using HIV and maternal vaccination as examples and finish by considering how prematurity impacts infant immune responses to vaccination.

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Infant immunity.R1_clean manuscript - Accepted Manuscript
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 1 March 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 1 May 2021
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved. Copyright: This record is sourced from MEDLINE/PubMed, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 441053
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/441053
ISSN: 0891-3668
PURE UUID: 4b3ddec5-8480-49e3-b0ab-ced2c7bd5f0a
ORCID for Christine E Jones: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1523-2368

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Date deposited: 28 May 2020 16:58
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:35

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Author: Petra Zimmerman

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