Decreased Humoral Immunity to Mumps in Young Adults Immunized with MMR Vaccine in Childhood

In the past decade, multiple mumps outbreaks have occurred in the United States, primarily in close-contact, high-density settings such as colleges, with a high attack rate among young adults, many of whom had the recommended 2 doses of mumps-measles-rubella (MMR) vaccine. Waning humoral immunity and the circulation of divergent wild-type mumps strains have been proposed as contributing factors to mumps resurgence. Blood samples from 71 healthy 18- to 23-year-old college students living in a non-outbreak area were assayed for antibodies and memory B cells (MBCs) to mumps, measles, and rubella. Seroprevalence rates of mumps, measles, and rubella determined by IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were 93, 93, and 100%, respectively. The index standard ratio indicated that the concentration of IgG was significantly lower for mumps than rubella. High IgG avidity to mumps Enders strain was detected in sera of 59/71 participants who had sufficient IgG levels. The frequency of circulating mumps-specific MBCs was 5 to 10 times lower than measles and rubella, and 10% of the participants had no detectable MBCs to mumps. Geometric mean neutralizing antibody titers (GMTs) by plaque reduction neutralization to the predominant circulating wild-type mumps strain (genotype G) were 6-fold lower than the GMTs against the Jeryl Lynn vaccine strain (genotype A). The majority of the participants (80%) received their second MMR vaccine ≥10 years prior to study participation. Additional efforts are needed to fully characterize B and T cell immune responses to mumps vaccine and to develop strategies to improve the quality and durability of vaccine-induced immunity.