Declining Maternally-Derived Measles Antibodies in Infants and Nursing Mothers in Nigeria: A Review

Measles, also reffered to as rubeolais an endemic respiratory disease caused by a virus. It is a highly contagious infection which typically begins with a mild to moderate fever, often accompanied by a persistent cough, runny nose, conjunctivitis and sore throat. Today, despite the availability of a safe, effective and relatively inexpensive vaccine for more than 40 years, measles still kills more than any other vaccines preventable disease among children. In Pregnant women, IgG immunoglobulin antibody is produced and crosses the placenta to developing fetus’ blood circulation; thereby conferring primary protection against infections in the early life of newborns. The presence or absence of Maternal Measles Antibody (MMA) in infants is therefore a factor to be considered in immunization of infants against measles. In Nigeria, the recommended age for routine measles vaccination for infants is at 9 month of age. However, it has been severely reported that the present-day civilized mothers are more measles vaccine-immuned contrary to been natural measles virus-immuned and as such, produce low titer anti-measles virus antibody which consequently decays or clears from their respective infants earlier than 9 months of age when measles vaccine is routinely administered. Early immunization against measles may potentially minimize the duration of the period between the loss of maternal antibodies transferred via the placenta and the administration of the recommended measles vaccination for infants, hence the need for the re-evaluation of the measles immunization schedule. Keywords: Vaccination; Maternal Measles Antibody; Infant, Virus;