• Vu An Do, Sofie Biering-Sørensen, Ane Bærent Fisker, Carlito Balé, Stine Møller Rasmussen, Lone Damkjær Christensen, Kristoffer Jarlov Jensen, Cesário Martins, Peter Aaby, and Christine Stabell Benn.
• Research Center for Vitamins & Vaccines (CVIVA), Bandim Health Project, Statens Serum Institut, Artillerivej 5, DK-2300 Copenhagen S, Denmark.
• J. Infect. Dis. 2017 Apr 15; 215 (8): 1188-1196.

BackgroundChildren in Guinea-Bissau receive measles vaccine (MV) at 9 months of age, but studies have shown that an additional dose before 9 months of age might have beneficial nonspecific effects. Within a randomized trial designed to examine nonspecific effects of early MV receipt on mortality, we conducted a substudy to investigate the effect of early MV receipt on morbidity.MethodsChildren were randomly assigned at a ratio of 2:1 to receive 2 doses of MV at 18 weeks and age 9 months (intervention group) or 1 dose of MV at age 9 months, in accordance with current practice (control group). Children were visited weekly from enrollment to age 9 months; the mother reported morbidity, and the field assistants examined the children. Using Cox and binomial regression models, we compared the 2 randomization groups.ResultsAmong the 1592 children, early measles vaccination was not associated with a higher risk of the well-known adverse events of fever, rash, and convulsions within the first 14 days. From 15 days after randomization to age 9 months, early measles vaccination was associated with reductions in maternally reported diarrhea (hazard ratio [HR], 0.89; 95% confidence interval [CI], .82-.97), vomiting (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, .75-.98), and fever (HR, 0.93; 95% CI, .87-1.00).ConclusionEarly MV receipt was associated with reduced general morbidity in the following months, supporting that early MV receipt may improve the general health of children.© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

25 keywords...

hide…