Immunological Features of Measles in Children
Abstract
Background: Despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine, measles remains endemic in many countries and is the main cause of morbidity and mortality among young children. Therefore, the main objective of the study was to investigate the immunological features of measles in children.
Materials and Methods: The immune status of children (n = 72) who were diagnosed with measles, was analysed. Various lymphocyte proportions were determined using monoclonal antibodies and immunofluorescence microscopy. The immunoregulatory index was calculated.
Results: The relative content of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in the experimental group comprising of moderately and severely ill patients was significantly lower. The immunoregulatory index was reduced, and there was a
positive correlation (0.3) between the indices during admission (2.0469 ± 0.04830) and during the entire hospital stay (1.9258 ± 0.09099) in moderately ill patients, respectively. The proportion of CD16+ T cells was higher at admission and the rate of the increase in CD16+ T cell proportion was significantly higher (P < 0.05). CD16+ counts were higher in moderate to severe cases. Thus, moderately and severely ill children with measles exhibited T-cell immune deficiency.
Conclusion: The severity of measles directly correlated with the patient age, with the disease progressing to the severe status in younger children (r = -0.3).
How to cite this article:
Chechetova S, Kadyrova R, Dzholbunova Z, Mainazarova E, Khalupko E, Vityala Y, Tagaev T. Immunological Features of Measles in Children. J Commun Dis. 2021;53(3):11-15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/0019.5138.202134
References
McIntosh N, Helms P, Smyth R, Logan S. Forfar and Arneil’s Textbook of Pediatrics. 7th ed. Edinburgh:
Churchill Livingstone; 2008.
World Health Organization [Internet]. Causes of child mortality; [2020 Sep 8]. Available from: http://www.
who.int/gho/child_health/mortality/causes/en/3. Ovsyannikova IG, Dhiman N, Jacobson RM, Vierkant
RA, Poland GA. Frequency of measles virus-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in subjects seronegative or
highly seropositive for measles vaccine. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2003 May;10(3):411-6. [PubMed] [Google
Scholar]
Ministry of Health of the Kyrgyz Republic [Internet]. Measles has not been reported in Kyrgyzstan since June
of this year, 2019; [cited 2020 Sep 8]. Available from: http://med.kg/en/news/221-measles-has-not-beenreported-in-kyrgyzstan-since-june-of-this-year.html
Griffin DE. Measles virus-induced suppression of immune responses. Immunol Rev. 2010 Jul;236:176-
[PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Crotty S. Follicular helper CD4 T cells (TFH). Annu Rev Immunol. 2011;29:621-63. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Qin L, Waseem TC, Sahoo A, Bieerkehazhi S, Zhou H, Galkina EV, Nurieva R. Insights into the molecular
mechanisms of T follicular helper-mediated immunity and pathology. Front Immunol. 2018 Aug;9:1884.
[PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Janeway CA Jr, Travers P, Walport M, Shlomchik M. Immunobiology: The immune system in health and
disease. 5th ed. Taylor & Francis, Inc; 2001.
Permar SR, Klumpp SA, Mansfield KG, Kim WK, Gorgone DA, Lifton MA, Williams KC, Schmitz JE, Reimann KA,
Axthelm MK, Polack FP, Griffin DE, Letvin NL. Role of CD8(+) lymphocytes in control and clearance of
measles virus infection of rhesus monkeys. J Virol. 2003;77(7):4396-400. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Mina MJ, Kula T, Leng Y, Li M, de Vries RD, Knip M, Siljander H, Rewers M, Choy DF, Wilson MS, Larman HB,
Nelson AN, Griffin DE, de Swart RL, Elledge SJ. Measles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that
offer protection from other pathogens. Science. 2019 Nov;366(6465):599-606. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Petrova VN, Sawatsky B, Han AX, Laksono BM, Walz L, Parker E, Pieper K, Anderson CA, de Vries RD,
Lanzavecchia A, Kellam P, von Messling V, de Swart RL, Russell CA. Incomplete genetic reconstitution of B
cell pools contributes to prolonged immunosuppression after measles. Sci Immunol. 2019 Nov;4(41):eaay6125.
[PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Flint PW, Haughey BH, Lund VJ, Niparko JK, Robbins KT, Thomas JR, Lesparence MM. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head and Neck Surgery. 5th ed. Mosby Elsevier. 2010;597-8.
Ma C, Gregory CJ, Hao L, Wannemuehler KA, Su Q, An Z, Quick L, Rodewald L, Ma F, Yan R, Song L, Zhang Y,
Kong Y, Zhang X, Wang H, Li L, Cairns L, Wang N, Luo H. Risk factors for measles infection in 0-7 month old
children in China after the 2010 nationwide measles campaign: A multi-site case-control study, 2012-2013.
Vaccine. 2016 Dec;34(51):6553-60. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Ryon JJ, Moss WJ, Monze M, Griffin DE. Functional and phenotypic changes in circulating lymphocytes from
hospitalized Zambian children with measles. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 2002 Sep;9(5):994-1003. [PubMed]
[Google Scholar]
Lanier LL. Evolutionary struggles between NK cells and viruses. Nat Rev Immunol. 2008 Apr;8(4):259-68.
[PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Welsh RM, Waggoner SN. NK cells controlling virusspecific T cells: Rheostats for acute vs. persistent
infections. Virology. 2013 Jan;435(1):37-45. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Rydyznski C, Daniels KA, Karmele EP, Brooks TR, Mahl SE, Moran MT, Li C, Sutiwisesak R, Welsh RM, Waggoner
SN. Generation of cellular immune memory and B-cell immunity is impaired by natural killer cells. Nat
Commun. 2015 Feb;6:6375. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
Copyright (c) 2021 Author's
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
