Data on individuals aged 18 years and under reported by
the World Health Organization (WHO) China Joint Mission on
COVID-19 suggest that there is a relatively low attack rate
in this age group (2.4% of all reported cases). These
observations are in agreement with epidemiological pattern
of 2003 Coronavirus SARS-CoV outbreak when 8,098 cases of
SARS were diagnosed worldwide and only <5% of all cases were
diagnosed in patients <18 years of age [1]. 2012
MERS-Coronavirus outbreak reported few cases of MERS-CoV in
children and it remained mainly a disease of adults [2].
Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) vaccine has been thought to
protect against other viral causes of respiratory diseases
as well. Although satisfactory immune response is elicited
upto 10 years after the MMR immunization, there is reduction
in both the measles sero-positivity rates and the measles
antibody geometric mean concentrations [3]. An Italian study
reported that significant proportion of subjects immunized
for measles do not show a protective IgG titers even 10
years after vaccination [4].
Spike (S) of
coronavirus and Hemagglutinin (H) of measles virus have a
critical involvement in receptor recognition, as well as
virus attachment and entry. The H of measles virus plays a
crucial role in success of measles vaccine and the S protein
of coronavirus is the most promising and studied candidate
antigen for SARS-CoV vaccine development. It is the major
target for neutralizing antibodies in human patients and in
animal models. These similarities in structural construct
may play a role in eliciting immune response against
coronavirus in a child previously immunized against measles.
Age-related declining immunogenicity of measles vaccine,
possible structural and functional similarities between
measles virus and SARS-CoV-2, sparing of young population
from the clinically symptomatic cohort, and importantly, no
other plausible immunological explanation of COVID-19 being
a predominantly adult age group disease warrants serious
probing of measles vaccine as a containment strategy during
this ongoing pandemic. Measles vaccination carries a number
of advantages: highly efficient, safe, easily manufactured
at large scale, vaccine strains are genetically stable,
measles does not recombine or integrate genetic material,
vaccine does not persist or diffuse, mass booster doses can
be given to both pediatric and adult population, and it
presents an economical option that can be evaluated swiftly
in times of crisis.
Funding: Not Applicable;
Competing interest: None stated.
REFERENCES
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Feyssaguet M, Povey M, Di Paolo E. Long-term immunogenicity
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young children: A 10-year follow-up. Vaccine.2019;
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