Research advances in immune efficacy of mumps vaccines

Abstract

At present, Jeryl Lynn strain, Leningrad-3 strain and their derivatives have been widely used in live attenuated mumps virus vaccines. The reported immune efficacy of mumps vaccines is 80% ~ 100%. The diversity is greater than those of any other live attenuated virus vaccines, mostly because the above strains have been found to contain several different sub-strains. The proportion of the sub-strains may change when they are successively passaged in vitro, especially on cell substrates used for vaccine production. More recently, human leukocyte antigen and cytokine receptor gene polymorphisms are found to be associated with heterogeneous immune responses on mumps vaccines. Since 2004, mumps outbreaks have occurred in vaccinated populations in the United Kingdom, the United States and Spain. A waning of vaccine protection after implementation of a childhood immunization program has been identified as the main reason. The advice by WHO on strategies for achieving mumps elimination, including a catch-up vaccination in susceptible cohorts, still needs to be followed for keeping an immune level in healthy populations. Key words: Mumps vaccine; Mumps virus; Immune system