Opposite effects of actively and passively acquired immunity to the carrier on responses of human infants to a Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine.

Vaccination of infants with Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) capsular polysaccharide (HibCP) coupled to carrier proteins has proven protective against invasive Hib diseases in several trials. However, insufficient immunogenicity has been noted in certain populations. Therefore, studies analyzing factors influencing the antibody response to conjugate vaccines are needed. In this study, the response to HibCP coupled to tetanus toxoid (TT) was examined in relation to (i) priming with or coadministration of the carrier protein and (ii) the levels of passively acquired maternal TT antibodies. One hundred forty-four infants were vaccinated with HibCP-TT at 5 and 6 months. They were randomized into three groups that received TT as part of a diphtheria-tetanus-polio vaccine at either 6 and 7 months (group A), 5 and 6 months (group B), or 4 and 5 months (group C). Maternally acquired TT antibodies inhibited the anti-HibCP response to the first HibCP-TT dose in groups A and B (r = -0.5 and -0.4, respectively; P < 0.005). In these groups, infants with prevaccination anti-TT levels above the median failed to reach the defined long-term protective level of HibCP antibodies (1 microgram/ml) more often than infants with low prevaccination levels after the first (P = 0.0001) and the second (P = 0.01) doses of HibCP-TT. In contrast, active priming with TT at 4 months resulted in a threefold-higher median level of anti-HibCP (group C; 1.34 micrograms/ml) than in the unprimed group (group A; 0.40 microgram/ml) after the first dose of HibCP-TT (P = 0.01). Coadministration of TT had no enhancing effect (group B; 0.58 microgram/ml). No significant differences between the median anti-HibCP levels were seen after the second HibCP-TT dose (6.72, 9.63, and 11.44 micrograms/ml in groups A, B, and C, respectively; P = 0.25).