2018-11-23
Studies into the mechanism of measles-associated immune suppression during a measles outbreak in the Netherlands
Publication
Publication
Nature Communications , Volume 9 - Issue 1 p. 4944
Measles causes a transient immune suppression, leading to increased susceptibility to opportunistic infections. In experimentally infected non-human primates (NHPs) measles virus (MV) infects and depletes pre-existing memory lymphocytes, causing immune amnesia. A measles outbreak in the Dutch Orthodox Protestant community provided a unique opportunity to study the pathogenesis of measles immune suppression in unvaccinated children. In peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of prodromal measles patients, we detected MV-infected memory CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and naive and memory B cells at similar levels as those observed in NHPs. In paired PBMC collected before and after measles we found reduced frequencies of circulating memory B cells and increased frequencies of regulatory T cells and transitional B cells after measles. These data support our immune amnesia hypothesis and offer an explanation for the previously observed long-term effects of measles on host resistance. This study emphasises the importance of maintaining high measles vaccination coverage.
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| doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07515-0, hdl.handle.net/1765/112557 | |
| Nature Communications | |
| Organisation | Department of Virology |
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Laksono, B., de Vries, R., Verburgh, J., Visser, E., de Jong, A. (Alwin), Fraaij, P., … de Swart, R. (2018). Studies into the mechanism of measles-associated immune suppression during a measles outbreak in the Netherlands. Nature Communications, 9(1). doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07515-0 |
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