Measles Virus Infection Negatively Affects Host Immune Status

Little is known about the effect of measles infection on the breadth of the preexisting antibody repertoire in humans. In a community with low vaccination coverage in the Netherlands, investigators collected serum samples from 77 children pre- and post-measles infection (average interval, 10 weeks) and from uninfected, age-matched and/or interval-matched children, recipients of measles vaccines, and uninfected adults (control groups; N=119 total). They used phage-display immunoprecipitation and sequencing technology (VirScan) to determine changes in diversity of the antibody repertoire and in antibody titers.

Measles infection was associated with a mean reduction of about 20% in the overall diversity of the antibody repertoire, a finding tha…