Detection of measles vaccine virus and measles-specific immunoglobulin M in children vaccinated against measles-mumps-rubella during measles outbreak

Euri Seo; Yun-Jung Chang; Jae Woo Chung; Yoon-Seok Chung; Seong Yeon Park

doi:10.1016/j.jvacx.2024.100491

Detection of measles vaccine virus and measles-specific immunoglobulin M in children vaccinated against measles-mumps-rubella during measles outbreak

Vaccine X. 2024 Apr 24:18:100491. doi: 10.1016/j.jvacx.2024.100491. eCollection 2024 Jun.

Authors

Euri Seo^{1

2

3}, Yun-Jung Chang¹, Jae Woo Chung^{1

4}, Yoon-Seok Chung⁵, Seong Yeon Park^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Infection Control, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk UniversityCollege of Medicine, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
² Department of Pediatrics, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
³ Korea virus research institute, Center for Viral Immunology, Institue for Basic Science, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Laboratory Medicine, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Dongguk University College of Medicine, Goyang, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Division of High-risk Pathogens, Bureau of Infectious Disease Diagnosis Control, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Cheongju, Republic of Korea.
⁶ Department of Infectious Diseases, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Information regarding the detection perioid of measles vaccine virus (MeVV) RNA in human nasopharyngeal samples and measles-specific antibodies following measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination is limited. During contact tracing for a measles outbreak at a hospital in Republic of Korea, 4 out of 206 children vaccinated with MMR underwent real-time RT-PCR assay for measles and measles-specific antibodies test. Measles virus RNA was detected in 2 children, all of which was vaccine virus strain RNA (genotype A). In a healthy 27-month-old boy, MeVV RNA was detected 448 days after MMR vaccination. Measles-specific IgM was positive 1097 days following vaccination in a 4-year-old girl. MeVV RNA and measles-specific IgM were detected for a considerable period following primary MMR vaccination. Physicians should exercise caution when interpreting positive RT-PCR results for MeVV or measles-specific IgM from a child with measles-associated symptoms who has been recently vaccinated against measles.

Keywords: Children; Detection; Immunoglobulin M; Measles vaccine; Measles vaccine virus.