Vaccines (May 2024)

Timing of Assessment of Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immunity after Influenza Vaccination

  • Naruhito Otani,
  • Kazuhiko Nakajima,
  • Kumiko Yamada,
  • Kaori Ishikawa,
  • Kaoru Ichiki,
  • Takashi Ueda,
  • Yoshio Takesue,
  • Takuma Yamamoto,
  • Satoshi Higasa,
  • Susumu Tanimura,
  • Yuta Inai,
  • Toshiomi Okuno

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines12060584
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 6
p. 584

Abstract

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Assessment of the immune response to influenza vaccines should include an assessment of both humoral and cell-mediated immunity. However, there is a lack of consensus regarding the timing of immunological assessment of humoral and cell-mediated immunity after vaccination. Therefore, we investigated the timing of immunological assessments after vaccination using markers of humoral and cell-mediated immunity. In the 2018/2019 influenza season, blood was collected from 29 healthy adults before and after vaccination with a quadrivalent inactivated influenza vaccine, and we performed serial measurements of humoral immunity (hemagglutination inhibition [HAI] and neutralizing antibody [NT]) and cell-mediated immunity (interferon-gamma [IFN-γ]). The HAI and NT titers before and after vaccination were strongly correlated, but no correlation was observed between the markers of cell-mediated and humoral immunity. The geometric mean titer and geometric mean concentration of humoral and cellular immune markers increased within 2 weeks after vaccination and had already declined by 8 weeks. This study suggests that the optimal time to assess the immune response is 2 weeks after vaccination. Appropriately timed immunological assessments can help ensure that vaccination is effective.

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