Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-18T04:31:29.972Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Levels of anti-pneumococcal antibodies in young children in Papua New Guinea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

W. S. Pomat
Affiliation:
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
T. A. Smith
Affiliation:
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, Papua New Guinea Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, Swiss Tropical Institute, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland
R. C. Sanders
Affiliation:
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
C. S. Witt
Affiliation:
Dept of Clinical Immunology, Royal Perth Hospital, Perth, Australia
J. Montgomery
Affiliation:
Mater Misericordiae Hospital, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
D. Lehmann*
Affiliation:
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
M. P. Alpers
Affiliation:
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, PO Box 60, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
*
*Author for correspondence.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Anti-pneumococcal polysaccharide antibody (anti-PPS) levels were measured in 153 serum samples collected from children aged between 2 and 47 months living in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Fifty-seven of the samples were collected during acute episodes of lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI). Total IgA and IgG increased steadily with age; however, no association was found between the levels of these antibodies and the health status of the child. Total IgM levels showed little relationship to the age of the child but under 12 months of age levels were somewhat higher on average in children with pneumonia. For most of eight pneumococcal serotypes tested, specific IgG levels were found to decline rapidly in the first 6–8 months, reaching a minimum at approximately 12 months of age. Serotype 3 was exceptional in having very low titres in the youngest children. A separate analysis of 24 cord sera suggested that antibodies to this serotype do not usually cross the placenta in PNG. Children with pneumonia tended to have lower levels of specific IgG than healthy controls of the same age. Specific anti-PPS IgA levels were found to increase steadily with age, but were not associated with health status.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

References

1.Shann, F, Gratten, M, Germer, S, Linnemann, V, Hazlett, D, Payne, R. Aetiology of pneumonia in children in Goroka Hospital, Papua New Guinea. Lancet 1984; ii: 537–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Carrad, EV. Review of disease pattererns in Papua New Guinea. Port Moresby: Department of Community Medicine, University of Papua New Guinea, 1987.Google Scholar
3.Riley, ID, Lehmann, D, Alpers, MP, Marshall, TFde, C, Gratten, H, Smith, D. Pneumococcal vaccine prevents death from acute lower-respiratory-tract infections in Papua New Guinean children. Lancet 1986; ii: 877–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Teele, DW, Klein, JO, the Greater Boston Collaborative Otitis Media Study Group. Use of pneumococcal vaccine for prevention of recurrent acute otitis media in infants in Boston. Rev Infect Dis 1981: 3 (Suppl.): S113–23.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Sell, SH, Wright, PF, Vaughn, WK, Thompson, J, Schiffman, G. Clinical studies of pneumococcal vaccines in infants. I. Reactogenicity and immunogenicity of two polyvalent polysaccharide vaccines. Rev Infect Dis 1981; 3 (Suppl.): S97107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Witt, CS, Pomat, W, Alpers, MP. Pneumococcal antibody concentrations in young Papua New Guinean highlands children with pneumonia. Pediatr Infect Dis J 1989; 8: 533–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Witt, CS, Pomat, W, Lehmann, D, Alpers, MP. Antibodies to pneumococcal polysaccharides in pneumonia and response to pneumococcal vaccination in young children in Papua New Guinea. Clin Exp Immunol 1991; 83: 219–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Montgomery, JM, Lehmann, D, Smith, T, et al. Bacterial colonization of the upper respiratory tract and its association with acute lower respiratory tract infections in highland children of Papua New Guinea. Rev Infect Dis 1990; 12 (Suppl. 8): S1006–16.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Smith, TA, Lehmann, D, Coakley, C, Spooner, V, Alpers, MP. Relationships between growth and acute lower respiratory infections among children aged < 5 y in a highland population of Papua New Guinea. Am J Clin Nutr 1991; 53: 963–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Lange, K, Weeks, D, Boehnke, M. Programs for pedigree analysis: Mendel, Fisher and dGene. Genet Epidemiol 1988; 5: 471–2.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11.Hopper, JL. Review of FISHER. Genet Epidemiol 1988; 5: 473–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Diggle, PJ. An approach to the analysis of repeated measurements. Biometrics 1988; 44: 959–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Barrett, DJ, Lee, CG, Ammann, AJ, Ayoub, EM. IgG and IgM pneumococcal polysaccharide antibody responses in infants. Pediatr Res 1984; 18: 1067–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Douglas, RM, Paton, JC, Duncan, SJ, Hansman, DJ. Antibody response to pneumococcal vaccination in children younger than five years of age. J Infect Dis 1983; 148: 131–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15.Stiehm, ER, Fudenburg, HH. Serum levels of immune globulins in health and disease: a survey. Pediatrics 1966; 37: 715–27.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16.Windebank, KP, Faux, JA, Chapel, HM. ELISA determination of IgG antibodies to pneumococcal polysaccharides in a group of children. J Immunol Methods 1987; 104: 143–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17.Rogers, S, Sanders, RC, Alpers, MP. Immunogenicity of Edmonston-Zagreb measles vaccine in highland Papua New Guinean children from four months of age. J Trop Med Hyg 1991; 94: 8891.Google ScholarPubMed
18.Chudwin, DS, Wara, DW, Schiffman, G, Artrip, SG, Ammann, AJ. Maternal-fetal transfer of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide antibodies. Am J Dis Child 1985; 139: 378–80.Google ScholarPubMed
19.Schiffman, G. Chemistry and immunochemistry of the pneumococcal vaccine with special reference to cross-reaction and immunologic factors. Rev Infect Dis 1981; 3 (Suppl.): S18–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Robbins, JB, Schneerson, R, Sekura, RD, Szu, S, Quentin-Millet, M-J, Zhang, Y-L. Developments for new vaccines designed to prevent bacterial respiratory diseases. In: Acute respiratory infections in childhood, Douglas, RM, Kerby-Eaton, E, eds. Proceedings of an International Workshop, Sydney, August 1984. Adelaide: Department of Community Medicine, University of Adelaide, 1985: 4855.Google Scholar
21.Heidelberger, M, Jann, K, Jann, B, Orskov, F, Orskov, I, Westpal, O. Relationship between structures of three K polysaccharides of Escherichia coli and cross-reactivity in anti-pneumococcal sera. J Bacteriol 1968; 95: 2415–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Berntsson, E, Broholm, K-A, Kaijer, B. Serological diagnosis of pneumococcal disease with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Scand J Infec Dis 1978; 10: 177–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
23.Lehmann, D, Marshall, TFde, C, Riley, ID, Alpers, MP. Effect of pneumococcal vaccine on morbidity from acute lower respiratory tract infections in Papua New Guinean children. Ann Trop Paediatr 1991; 11: 247–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed