Impact of Maternally Derived Antibodies and Infant Microbiota on the Immunogenicity of Rotavirus Vaccines in Indian Infants

Abstract

This study was carried out to study the impact of maternal antibodies and infant microbiota on the immunogenicity of rotavirus vaccine in Indian infants. Given that India switched over from tOPV to bOPV with the introduction of a fractional dose of IPV In 2016, the study provided us with a window of opportunity to study the effect of administering bOPV and/or tOPV with rotavirus vaccine on rotavirus vaccine immunogenicity. The following are the important findings: 1. The overall proportion of children with IgA sero-response following two doses of rotavirus vaccine was 27.9%. When virus shedding was included, the overall proportion of children with vaccine response was 59.3%. 2. Maternal RV-IgG and infant RV-IgA and vaccine response following two doses of Rotarix showed a negative correlation. There was a non-significant negative correlation between breastmilk RV-IgA and the overall vaccine response following two doses of rotavirus vaccine. 3. Infants who had a neonatal rotavirus infection before vaccination had higher antibodies and greater seroconversion, and this was statistically significant. 4. There was a significant negative correlation in the microbiota diversity (alpha diversity) among the infants who seroconverted following rotavirus vaccination compared to those who did not. However, no differences were observed in specific bacterial taxa according to the vaccine outcome. 5. There was a significant association between the level of and#945;1AT at 6 and 10 weeks of age and the beta diversity of the microbiota in infants in our cohort. 6. There was no significant association between maternal and infant gut microbiota composition. However, there was evidence that some of the taxa were less likely to co-occur in mother infant pairs following caesarean section than vaginal delivery. 7. The overall percentage of sero-conversion was higher in infants receiving only bOPV when compared to those receiving only tOPV or a tOPV-bOPV combination, but the difference was not significant.