Measles, mumps, and rubella antibody patterns of persistence and rate of decline following the second dose of the MMR vaccine
Abstract
Background Antibodies to measles, mumps, and rubella decline 3% per year on average, and have a high degree of individual variation. Yet, individual variations and differences across antigens are not well understood. To better understand potential implications on individual and population susceptibility, we reanalyzed longitudinal data to identify patterns of seropositivity and persistence.Methods Children vaccinated with the second dose of measles, mumps, rubella vaccine (MMR2) at 4-6 years of age were followed up to 12 years post-vaccination. The rates of antibody decline were assessed using regression models, accounting for differences between and within subjects.Results Most of the 302 participants were seropositive throughout follow-up (96% measles, 88% mumps, 79% rubella). The rate of antibody decline was associated with MMR2 response and baseline titer for measles and age at first dose of MMR (MMR1) for rubella. No demographic or clinical factors were associated with mumps rate of decline. One month post-MMR2, geometric mean titer (GMT) to measles was high (3892 mIU/mL), but declined on average 9.7% per year among those with the same baseline titer and <2-fold increase post-MMR2. Subjects with ≥2-fold experienced a slower decline (≤7.4%). GMT to rubella was 149 one month post-MMR2, declining 2.6% and 5.9% per year among those who received MMR1 at 12-15 months and >15 months, respectively. GMT to mumps one month post-MMR2 was 151, declining 9.2% per year. Only 14% of subjects had the same persistence trends for all antigens.Conclusions The rate of antibody decay varied substantially among individuals and the 3 antigen groups. A fast rate of decline coupled with high variation was observed for mumps, yet no predictors were identified. Future research should focus on better understanding waning titers to mumps and its impacts on community protection and individual susceptibility, in light of recent outbreaks in vaccinated populations.
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For vaccines such as measles, mumps, and rubella, published studies have shown neutralizing antibody levels decline by about 5 to 10% per year.
“Published work about many vaccines, such as those against measles, mumps, and rubella, has shown a small decrease each year of 5 to 10% in the neutralizing antibody levels.13,14”
From Waning Immune Humoral Response to BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine over 6 Months (2021) · cites this paper as [14]
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Waning Immune Humoral Response to BNT162b2 Covid-19 Vaccine over 6 Months
Levin, E. G., Lustig, Y., Cohen, C., Fluss, R., Indenbaum, V., Amit, S., Doolman, R., Asraf, K., Mendelson, E., Ziv, A., et al. (2021) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmoa2114583 · Cited by 1,703 · see citing works
- Authors
- Seagle, E. E., Bednarczyk, R. A., Hill, T., Fiebelkorn, A. P., Hickman, C. J., Icenogle, J. P., Belongia, E. A., & McLean, H. Q.
- Affiliations
- Emory University (US)
- Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation (US)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- Corresponding author
- McLean, Huong Q.
- Venue
- Vaccine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-02
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 818-826
- ISSN
- 0264-410X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2782369581
- Cited by
- 92
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 8.23
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Vaccine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (200-2014-57941)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Virology and Viral Diseases
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Immunology › Immune responses and vaccinations
- Social Sciences › Health › Vaccine Coverage and Hesitancy
- Keywords
- measles, mumps, rubella, MMR vaccine, second dose, antibody persistence, antibody waning, seropositivity, geometric mean titer
- MeSH terms
- Antibodies, Viral, Antigens, Viral, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Immunization, Secondary, Infant, Male, Measles, Measles virus, Mumps, Mumps virus, Population Surveillance, Rubella, Rubella virus, Time Factors, Vaccination, Outcome Assessment, Health Care, Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine
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