American journal of epidemiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Divergent mortality for male and female recipients of low-titer and high-titer measles vaccines in rural Senegal.
The female/male mortality ratio among unimmunized children and children vaccinated with standard or high-titer measles vaccines was examined for all children born in the period 1985-1991 in a rural area of Senegal. The female/male mortality ratio from 9 months to 5 years of age for unvaccinated children was 0.94 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.75-1.19), significantly different from the ratio of 0.64 (95% CI 0.48-0.85) for recipients of the Schwarz standard measles vaccine (p = 0.040). ⋯ Hence, the Schwarz standard and high-titer measles vaccines have divergent sex-specific effects on mortality throughout childhood. Further studies of the underlying mechanisms are needed.