The influence of maternal antibodies on the immune responses of term and preterm born infants

Vaccination during pregnancy augments the disease-specific maternal antibodies, which will be successfully transferred to the fetus in utero, and later to the newborn via the breast milk. Both the transferred and breast milk antibodies help to protect the newborn against the targeted pathogen up till several months after birth. Next to a protective effect, maternal antibodies have been observed to interfere with (or modulate) the infants’ antibody responses at the time of the infants’ vaccination, often resulting in significantly lower antibody concentrations amongst infants born to vaccinated mothers. However, it remains unclear whether this maternal antibody modulation has any impact on the equally important cellular immune responses. This thesis further explores the benefits of maternal pertussis vaccination in preterm born infants and illustrates the modulatory effects of high maternal antibodies on the humoral and cellular immune responses after the infants’ primary and booster vaccination.

Jaar van publicatie:2021

Trefwoorden:Doctoral thesis

Toegankelijkheid:Open