Kinetics of maternal antibodies against rubella and varicella in infants.

Kinetics of maternal rubella and varicella antibodies in 213 mother-infant pairs are described in a longitudinal study in Belgium. Blood samples are taken at 7 time points (week 36 of pregnancy, birth (cord), 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months), and analyzed for anti-rubella IgG and anti-varicella IgG by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A generalized exponential model is used to analyse maternal antibody decay in infants. Model based, the mean duration of passive immunity is 2.1 months for rubella and 2.4 months for varicella. Infants are susceptible at young age for rubella, a disease with high vaccination coverage, as well as for varicella, an endemic disease in Western Europe.