This is according to two studies published this week revealing that measles infections in children can erase the memory of the immune system so that it stops protecting their body against other infectious diseases such as the flu. This means that children who recover from measles are vulnerable to other pathogens that they were supposed to be protected against before their encounter with the virus.
Measles erases immune memory of other diseases. This is according to two studies published this week revealing that measles infections in children can erase the memory of the immune system so that it stops protecting their body against other infectious diseases such as the flu. This means that children who recover from measles are vulnerable to other pathogens that they were supposed to be protected against before their encounter with the virus.
The findings, published on October 31 in the journal Science and Science Immunology, come at a time when measles cases are increasing worldwide. The World Health Organization reported that there were more measles infections in the first six months of 2019 than in any year since
The studies underscore the importance of the measles vaccine, says Michael Mina, an infectious disease vaccine expert at the Harvard School of Public Health and co-author of the paper in the journal Science.
The measles virus is highly contagious and can lead to complications including pneumonia. And previous studies have suggested that the virus induces a kind of oblivion in the immune system, says Duane Vossman, an immunologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. When people get an infection, their immune system makes antibodies to fight it. Once the body clears the infection, special immune cells remember the pathogen and help provide the fastest protection if the virus or bacterium invades again.
Mina and his colleagues analyzed blood samples from 77 Dutch children who did not receive the triple vaccine before and after a measles outbreak there in 2013. The team also collected blood samples from 33 children before and after their first vaccination against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR). The researchers analyzed the children's antibodies using a test that measures the amount, and strength, of antibodies against thousands of viral and bacterial types.
Two months after the unvaccinated children recovered from measles, the team found that the virus had wiped out 11-73% of their antibodies against bacteria and other viruses. Although the reasons behind the high variation in antibody reduction are not clear, the finding shows that the virus previously alters immune memory, Mina says. The children who received the MMR vaccine did not show any reduction in these antibodies.
Mina and his team also infected macaque monkeys with measles and tested their antibody status against other pathogens over five months. The monkeys lost 60-40% of their antibodies against pathogens they had previously encountered, indicating that the measles virus destroys many plasma cells in the bone marrow that can produce pathogen-specific antibodies for decades, Mina says.
Measles appears to wipe out immune cells that "remember" encounters with specific bacteria and viruses. According to a separate and independent team that published the study in the journal Science Immunology. When the scientists analyzed blood samples from the same group of unvaccinated children in the first study, the researchers found that these 'memory' cells disappeared in the children who contracted measles.
unexpected protection
The findings highlight how the MMR vaccine protects against more than just measles, says Valislava Petrova, an immunologist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Hinxton, UK, who led the Science Immunology study. The triple vaccine also prevents longer-term damage to the immune system that could lead to a resurgence of other diseases, she says.
It's possible to rebuild a person's suite of antibodies against specific bacteria and viruses by exposing them to the same pathogens again, says Steven Elledge, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School in Boston and a co-author of the Science study. But some children can develop life-threatening diseases as a result. "Every time you're exposed to a virus, you're gambling." he says
As vaccination rates decline in some countries because of anti-vaccination campaigns and infrastructure problems, the findings from the two studies may help public health officials develop more effective vaccination policies, said Akiko Iwasaki, a viral vaccine expert at Yale University in New Haven, Conn., who recommends vaccinating all public school students with the triple vaccine. .
Public health officials can consider giving people with measles booster shots of vaccines they've already received against other diseases, especially in areas where measles outbreaks are common, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Mina says.
However, different governments choose different ways to handle vaccinations, so it's important for countries to prevent measles outbreaks by maintaining high vaccination rates against the virus, Mina says. "We must do our best to ensure that measles remains on the elimination radar."
For the scientific studies:
More of the topic in Hayadan:
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- Herd Immunity and Measles: Why We Should Aim for 100% Vaccination Coverage
- "More it goes and it comes" - the version of the plagues - measles flourishes because of the opponents of vaccines
