Measuring antibody levels prudent after some vaccinations in HIV

The duration of seroprotection conferred by most standard vaccines is shorter among patients with HIV, according to recent data. As a result, antibodies for some vaccine-preventable diseases should be measured regularly to ensure that these patients receive booster doses as soon as the antibody levels begin to wane, according to the researchers from Paris Descartes University and Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris. “Recommendations on the timing of booster injections were based on data collected in healthy persons, although antibody decay patterns may be different,” the researchers wrote in Clinical Infectious Diseases. “In this respect, an important question is to estimate, among patients who initially responded to immunization, how seroprotection decreases over time.” The researchers conducted a systematic review of 54 studies that included data on 13 vaccines: Streptococcus pneumoniae, hepatitis B, measles,hepatitis A, tetanus, yellow fever, Haemophilus influenzae type b, rubella, varicella, pertussis, poliovirus, mumps and Japanese encephalitis. Nineteen of the...