Seroprevalence of measles vaccine antibody response in vertically HIV-infected children, in Morocco

The widespread use of an effective and safe vaccine to measles has substantially decreased morbidity and mortality from this epidemic. Nevertheless, HIV-infected children vaccinated against measles may develop an impaired vaccine response and remain susceptible to this disease. In Morocco, infants are routinely vaccinated against measles, regardless of their HIV serostatus. An evaluation of the immunization of these children may be of paramount importance to implement timely measures aimed at preventing measles transmission. In this study, we have enrolled 114 children vaccinated against measles, 50 children prenatally infected with HIV and 64 HIV-uninfected children. For all children, blood samples were taken to measure anti-measles IgG by EIA and CD4 count by flow cytometry. Additionally, HIV viral load was determined by automated real time PCR, for HIV-infected children. The seroprotective rate of IgG anti-measles antibodies was significantly lower among HIV-infected children (26%) compared with HIV-uninfected children (73%) (p 0.999 and p = 0.730, respectively. However, CD4 count was lower among children with negative serostatus to measles (23% versus 32%, p