measles scare at the US airports - Page 2

[ema-adama]

ASusan - it's been a good three years since I was reading the specifics on measles and immunity to measles. I remember concluding that mothers who acquired immunity from the wild virus passed on a longer lasting immunity via the placenta. I do not remember reading about specific immunity in breastmilk. Although I am sure an infant that is breastfeeding will have a superior immune system, all other things being equal.

I could very well have that wrong though.

[ema-adama]

I happened to come across this.

Breast-feeding and a subsequent diagnosis of measles

Results: Breast-feeding for more than three months was negatively associated with a diagnosis of clinical measles infection after adjustment for crowding, social class, measles vaccination, parity and sex with an odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of 0.69 (0.60–0.81) compared with those who never breast-fed. Measles vaccination was highly associated with low risk for measles with: 0.14 (0.13–0.16). Age at acute measles infection was not associated with breastfeeding. Breast-feeding did not notably alter measles immunization efficacy

[ASusan]

So if AGE of measles acquisition isn't associated with breastfeeding...does that imply that the immunity provided by breastfeeding is indefinite?

I just found the abstract from which you quoted. The cohort tested is from 1970..,wouldn't most of the mothers of infants born in 1970 have had the measles - wild virus? The vaccine wasn't introduced until 1963, so if the mothers WERE vaccinated, it would have been as adolescents/adults. SO, the article doesn't give us any information about measles protection via breastfeeding of vaccinated mothers vs. naturally-immunized mothers (those who have had measles themselves).

I wonder if that research exists.

Ahhh, and when you google measles breastfeeding, the third link is a mothering.com discussion of 2008, which leads to this article - about passive immunity via the placenta NOT breastfeeding, right?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9178461

Vaccine. 1997 Apr-May;15(6-7):620-3.

Passive immunity against measles during the first 8 months of life of infants born to vaccinated mothers or to mothers who sustained measles.

De Serres G, Joly JR, Fauvel M, Meyer F, Mâsse B, Boulianne N.

 

Neutralizing antibody titers of 47 infants whose mothers sustained measles (measles group) and 70 whose mothers were vaccinated (vaccine group) were compared at birth, 4 and 8 months of age. All children had antibodies at birth and 88% at 4 months. At 8 months, 49% had antibodies in the measles group and 15% in the vaccine group (P < 0.001). The geometric mean titers were significantly lower in the vaccine group than in the measles group and the difference corresponded to the antibody loss occurring in only 1.5 months of life. This small difference may reflect past exposure to wild virus of many vaccinated mothers.

And if we believe our own posters I was wrong about protection provided via breasfeeding -

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/957350/here-s-what-worries-me-about-the-measles-epidemic/20

[ema-adama]

Yes, it does look like there is something protective beyond the period of breastfeeding. But, as you pointed out, this would have applied to children born to mothers who had had wild measles. And measles was in circulation, possibly offering 'boosters' that are not around today. So yeah, I do not think this study would be relevant today. Although it could be that the protective element in breastmilk is not antibody dependent. But we don't know. I am not aware of a study comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated breastfeeding mothers.

Another interesting bit of information in the table, is the 31.2% failure rate for the monovalent measles vaccine (not MMR). And that 23% of children aged 10 in the UK in the year 1980 had not had measles despite not being vaccinated.
 

The whole study is available in the link in my previous post.

Originally Posted by ASusan 

So if AGE of measles acquisition isn't associated with breastfeeding...does that imply that the immunity provided by breastfeeding is indefinite?

I just found the abstract from which you quoted. The cohort tested is from 1970..,wouldn't most of the mothers of infants born in 1970 have had the measles - wild virus? The vaccine wasn't introduced until 1963, so if the mothers WERE vaccinated, it would have been as adolescents/adults. SO, the article doesn't give us any information about measles protection via breastfeeding of vaccinated mothers vs. naturally-immunized mothers (those who have had measles themselves).

I wonder if that research exists.

Ahhh, and when you google measles breastfeeding, the third link is a mothering.com discussion of 2008, which leads to this article - about passive immunity via the placenta NOT breastfeeding, right?

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9178461

And if we believe our own posters I was wrong about protection provided via breasfeeding -

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/957350/here-s-what-worries-me-about-the-measles-epidemic/20

[Mirzam]

Originally Posted by ema-adama 

Another interesting bit of information in the table, is the 31.2% failure rate for the monovalent measles vaccine (not MMR). And that 23% of children aged 10 in the UK in the year 1980 had not had measles despite not being vaccinated.
 

I am from the UK and my sister would have been 10 in 1980, I know for sure she wasn't vaccinated for measles (had a severe reaction to the DPT at four months so my mother stopped vaccinating her altogether), and she has never had measles. I am a few years older than her and did get measles before she was born, I wasn't vaccinated for it either.

She was never breastfed, I was breastfed for about two weeks.

[ema-adama]

Originally Posted by Mirzam 

I am from the UK and my sister would have been 10 in 1980, I know for sure she wasn't vaccinated for measles (had a severe reaction to the DPT at four months so my mother stopped vaccinating her altogether), and she has never had measles. I am a few years older than her and did get measles before she was born, I wasn't vaccinated for it either.

She was never breastfed, I was breastfed for about two weeks.

Thanks for sharing.

I was born in th UK, but would have been too young for this study. I was not vaccinated, was breastfed for a couple of weeks (not sure how long) and did get measles when I was 9. I was not vaccinated. My brother, younger than me, was breastfed for 5 months, and he had measles at the age of 7. He also was not vaccinated.

It's interesting looking at studies and seeing what fits with your personal experience, and what does not.