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Antibody response to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine 10 among Nigerian children under 5 years
Chidinma A Udah1, Francis U Iregbu1, Emmanuel E Ekanem2
1Department of Paediatrics, Federal University Teaching Hospital, Owerri.
Insights
Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 10 (PCV 10) in Nigeria induced protective antibody levels in children. The vaccine is immunogenic, with antibody responses slightly increasing with age and being higher in males.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Immunology
- Vaccinology
Background:
- Invasive pneumococcal diseases are a leading cause of childhood mortality globally, especially in developing nations.
- Pneumococcal vaccines were developed to mitigate this significant public health burden.
- The Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 10 (PCV 10) was integrated into Nigeria's National Programme on Immunization (NPI) in 2014.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the immunogenicity of the PCV 10 vaccine in Nigerian children.
- To determine if the vaccine elicits protective antibody levels in the local population.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 245 children aged 20-59 months who completed the NPI schedule for PCV 10.
- Measurement of anti-pneumococcal PCV 10 IgG concentration using an ELISA kit.
- Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Kruskal Wallis test, and Spearman's correlation.
Main Results:
- All participants achieved protective levels of anti-pneumococcal IgG antibodies.
- The mean IgG concentration was 11.01±1.23 IU/ml.
- A slight positive correlation was observed between antibody response and age (r=0.13, p=0.04), with higher levels in males.
Conclusions:
- PCV 10 administered according to the NPI schedule is immunogenic in Nigerian children.
- The vaccine induces protective antibody levels, suggesting its effectiveness in reducing pneumococcal disease incidence.
- Continued monitoring and vaccination programs are crucial for disease control.
Introduction:
Invasive pneumococcal diseases have been a major contributor to childhood mortality, particularly in the developing world and pneumococcal vaccines were introduced to reduce the burden. The Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 10 (PCV 10) was incorporated into the Nigerian National Programme on Immunization (NPI) in 2014 to reduce the incidence of childhood pneumococcal infections. This study was done to determine the immunogenicity of the vaccine in our clime.
Methodology:
This cross-sectional study was carried out between September 2019 and January 2020 at the Children Outpatient Clinic of the Federal Medical Center, Owerri, Nigeria. Two hundred and forty five children between the ages of 20 weeks and 59 months, who had received three doses of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 10 (PCV 10) at 6, 10 and 14 weeks according to the NPI schedule, were recruited into the study. The anti-pneumococcal PCV 10 IgG concentration was determined using Human Anti-Pneumococcal CPS 10 IgG vaccine ELISA Kit ®. Simple proportions, means and median (as appropriate) were used to analyse the data. Kruskal Wallis test and Spearman's correlation were done to test association. Significance was set as p< 0.05.
Results:
The mean anti-pneumococcal IgG concentration was 11.01±1.23 IU/ml and all the study participants formed protective levels of anti-pneumococcal IgG. There was a slight positive correlation between antibody response and age (r=0.13, p=0.04), and the antibody response was slightly more in males than females.
Conclusion:
All the children under the age of five years who had received PCV 10 at 6, 10 and 14 weeks of age, who participated in this study formed protective levels of antibodies to the vaccine. Antibody levels increased slightly with age. The PCV 10 currently used in the Nigerian programme is sufficiently antigenic and a downward trend in pneumococcal diseases should soon be noticeable.
