Professor Henrik Salje, is the joint senior author on a new study about the measles vaccine which has found that a single dose of the measles jab is up to 2.6 times more likely to be completely ineffective in children born by C-section, compared to those born naturally.
"Measles remains a major global killer. We have an excellent vaccine but sometimes it fails, the reasons for which have been largely a mystery. We studied how measles antibody evolved in mothers and infants. We found antibody levels are highly predictive - even knowing only an expectant mother’s antibody level, we can accurately predict how infants will respond to the vaccine many months later. In addition, infants that fail to mount a response to the vaccine had >2 times greater odds to be from a caesarean as compared to a vaginal birth. Reasons appear linked to microbiome development and may be relevant across vaccines. Infants born through c-sections should be carefully monitored to ensure they get their second measles vaccine"