Sustaining herd immunity against measles: Insights from a serological cohort study in an outbreak-free population

Measles antibody levels decline after MMR vaccination, raising concerns about individual protection and maintenance of herd immunity. In Finland, MMR vaccinations started in 1982, and only sporadic measles cases have been observed since the late 1980s. This suggests that a high proportion of individuals are unlikely to transmit measles. We examine the sustainability of herd immunity by inferring the antibody threshold sufficient to interrupt measles transmission.

We utilized measles antibody data collected after the second MMR vaccine dose from 157 individuals in a Finnish MMR-vaccinated cohort at 8 sampling rounds during 1987-2012 (ages 6-31 years), with antibody concentrations measured using the haemagglutination inhibition assay and/or enzyme immunoassay depending on the round. Antibody decline after vaccination was estimated and extrapolated beyond the study age range to predict the proportion exceeding candidate antibody thresholds in the 2022 Finnish population. Threshold sufficiency was evaluated by comparing this proportion with the critical proportion required to sustain the absence of measles epidemics.

The mean follow-up time was over 20 years, with 68% of all potential samples available. After age 13, antibody levels declined slowly or very slowly, with first and second half-lives of 10 and 20, or 22 and 67 years, respectively. No unique threshold was identified. However, the continued absence of measles epidemics suggests a very slow decline and/or a low (< 120 mIU/ml) antibody threshold to interrupt transmission.

Vaccine-induced protection against measles transmission appears long-lasting. For herd immunity, declining vaccine uptake poses a greater risk than waning immunity.