Mina MJ, Kula T, Leng Y, Li M, de Vries RD, Knip M, Siljander H, Rewers M, Choy DF, Wilson MS, Larman HB, Nelson AN, Griffin DE, de Swart RL, Elledge SJ. *Science* · November 1, 2019 · DOI: [10.1126/science.aay6485](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay6485) How to cite ### AMA Mina MJ, Kula T, Leng Y, et al. Measles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that offer protection from other pathogens. *Science*. 2019;366(6465):599-606. doi:10.1126/science.aay6485 ### APA ``` Mina, M. J., Kula, T., Leng, Y., Li, M., de Vries, R. D., Knip, M., Siljander, H., Rewers, M., Choy, D. F., Wilson, M. S., Larman, H. B., Nelson, A. N., Griffin, D. E., de Swart, R. L., & Elledge, S. J. (2019). Measles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that offer protection from other pathogens. *Science*, 366(6465), 599–606. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay6485 ``` ### BibTeX ``` @article{mina2019measles, title = {Measles virus infection diminishes preexisting antibodies that offer protection from other pathogens}, author = {Mina, Michael J. and Kula, Tomasz and Leng, Yumei and Li, Mamie and de Vries, Rory D. and Knip, Mikael and Siljander, Heli and Rewers, Marian and Choy, David F. and Wilson, Mark S. and Larman, H. Benjamin and Nelson, Ashley N. and Griffin, Diane E. and de Swart, Rik L. and Elledge, Stephen J.}, journal = {Science}, volume = {366}, number = {6465}, pages = {599--606}, year = {2019}, doi = {10.1126/science.aay6485} } ``` In paired pre- and post-infection blood samples from 77 unvaccinated children studied during a Dutch measles outbreak, VirScan phage-display immunoprecipitation sequencing detected elimination of 11–73% of each child's preexisting pathogen-specific antibody repertoire after natural measles infection — a previously invisible "immune amnesia" that erases the durable serological memory of prior infections and vaccinations. The same depletion did not follow MMR vaccination but was reproduced in experimentally MV-infected rhesus macaques, where it persisted for at least five months. [ Read publication at Science ](https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay6485) In this publication: - Measles infection eliminated 11–73% of each child's preexisting pathogen-specific antibody repertoire (median 33% in mild cases, 40% in severe), with no comparable depletion after MMR vaccination. - 77 unvaccinated Dutch children profiled before and ~2 months after laboratory-confirmed natural measles infection (mean age 9 years; 34 mild, 43 severe). - Twelve of the 77 children (16%) lost more than 40% of their preexisting antibody repertoire despite no change in total IgG, IgA, or IgM by ELISA. - Persistent depletion was reproduced in experimentally MV-infected rhesus macaques and remained detectable at least five months post-infection. Measles is a paramyxovirus best known for the rash, fever, and acute illness it produces in the first few weeks of infection. But for decades, epidemiologists have observed something stranger: communities that experience a measles outbreak see elevated death rates from other, unrelated infectious diseases for as long as two to three years afterward. In the pre-vaccine era, measles may have been responsible for as many as half of all childhood infectious-disease deaths once those downstream effects were counted. The biological mechanism behind this long-tail mortality has been called "immune amnesia," but until this study, the actual erasure of antibody memory had never been measured at the level of individual pathogen specificities. The team obtained paired plasma samples taken before and roughly two months after laboratory-confirmed measles infection in 77 unvaccinated children from low-vaccination communities in the Netherlands (mean age 9 years; 34 mild cases, 43 severe). They profiled each sample using VirScan, a phage-display immunoprecipitation sequencing assay that simultaneously tracks antibodies against thousands of pathogen epitopes spanning the human virome and additional bacterial libraries. Three findings stood out. First, after measles, children lost on average about 20% of their overall antibody-repertoire diversity, with depletion ranging from 11 to 73% per child — despite no change in total IgG, IgA, or IgM by ELISA. Twelve of the 77 children (16%) lost more than 40% of their preexisting repertoire. Second, the depletion was specific to natural measles infection: children vaccinated with MMR showed no comparable antibody loss. Third, the same depletion was reproduced in experimentally MV-infected rhesus macaques and persisted for at least five months. Together the results give a mechanistic substrate for measles's downstream mortality signal and underscore how widespread MMR vaccination preserves the pathogen-specific antibody memory that natural measles infection silently dismantles. [← Back to all resources](/) ## Related resources [![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/vbcbvda6/production/d789ad5a7e0a909e5a212ab947adc6aefa3d99c8-1200x750.webp)White Paper ### Unbiased analysis of antibody responses to all human viruses using Infinity Bio's VirSIGHT library A peer-reviewed methodology white paper for VirSIGHT, Infinity Bio's unbiased antibody reactome assay covering 500+ huma… Read more ](/resources/unbiased-analysis-of-antibody-responses-to-all-human-viruses-using-infinity-bios)[![](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/vbcbvda6/production/42d91c8dac09c5fcb1af7609488897b8e4f36e5a-1200x750.webp)Brochure ### VirSIGHT InSIGHTs VirSIGHT at a glance: antibody reactome profiling across the known human virome (500+ species). 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