Markers of humoral immunity to influenza viruses in pregnant women

Abstract

Pregnant women have a high risk of severe and complicated influenza, that may lead to unfavorable consequences for both mother and baby.

The aim – to assess humoral immunity to influenza among pregnant women, a predictor of infant protection against influenza.

Material and methods. We performed seroprevalence survey for antibodies to influenza viruses including 96 pregnant women, living in Arkhangelsk Region. Person’s χ2 test was used to reveal factors associated with seronegative status.

Results. A little more than 20% of women were immunized before pregnancy. No one was immunized during pregnancy. Most of the pregnant women mentioned they had natural exposure to influenza (61.5%). More than half of the participants (54.2%) had immunoglobulins G to influenza viruses with 45.8% of women had antibodies to influenza viruses A and B, 6.3% had immunoglobulins G to influenza A viruses only, and 2.1% -to influenza B viruses only. Seronegative results were obtained in 45.8%. The percentage of pregnant women seronegative to influenza B virus was higher than the proportion of participants susceptible to influenza A virus. Age, gravity, and gestational age were not associated with seronegative status.

Conclusion. Slightly less than half of pregnant women did not have antibodies to influenza viruses. This category of study participants is the risk group of influenza during pregnancy. Children of seronegative women will not receive passive immunity against influenza from their mothers and will be vulnerable to this infection from birth.

Keywords:influenza, pregnancy, antibody, seroprevalence

Funding. The study was carried out funded by the grant from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Arkhangelsk Region, received as a result of the regional competition of scientific projects "Young Scientists of Pomerania" in 2019.

Conflict of interests. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Contribution. Collection and processing of material, statistical data processing, text writing - Krieger E.A.; concept and design of the study, editing, approval of the final version of the article - Samodova O.V.

For citation: Krieger E.A., Samodova O.V. Markers of humoral immunity to influenza viruses in pregnant women. Infektsionnye bolezni: novosti, mneniya, obuchenie [Infectious Diseases: News, Opinions, Training]. 2021; 10 (1): 24-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33029/2305-3496-2021-10-1-24-28 (in Russian)

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CHIEF EDITOR
Aleksandr V. Gorelov
Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, MD, Head of Infection Diseases and Epidemiology Department of the Scientific and Educational Institute of Clinical Medicine named after N.A. Semashko ofRussian University of Medicine, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Professor of the Department of Childhood Diseases, Clinical Institute of Children's Health named after N.F. Filatov, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Deputy Director for Research, Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Rospotrebnadzor (Moscow, Russian Federation)

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