Measles- who suffers most?
A 2024 case report describes a ten-month-old female who developed viremia, meningoencephalitis, and multi-organ failure after receiving the live-attenuated measles vaccine.
Whole-genome sequencing revealed a homozygous loss-of-function mutation in IFNAR2, abolishing type-I interferon signaling and leaving the child vulnerable to severe viral disease.
The authors note that defects in IFNAR2 define immunodeficiency-45 and that carriers of such mutations are at high risk for life-threatening complications from either natural measles infection or the live vaccine itself .
Poland and co-workers have repeatedly shown that common single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the measles virus receptors CD46 and SLAM, as well as in TLR3, TLR7, TLR8, RIG-I, and multiple HLA class I and II loci, significantly modulate cytokine release, antibody production, and cellular immunity after measles exposure or vaccination. Individuals carrying the “low-response” alleles mount weaker antiviral responses and experience higher peak viral loads, correlates that have been linked to increased risk of disseminated disease and post-infectious complications in subsequent outbreaks .
Clifford et al. demonstrated that specific variants of TLR7 and TLR8 reduce interferon-α/β secretion in infants challenged with measles virus, resulting in prolonged viremia and febrile seizures in a subset of vaccinees. The same study noted that a RIG-I polymorphism that lowers receptor expression doubled the likelihood of hospitalisation for measles-like illness during a community outbreak, implying that genetically impaired innate sensing converts an otherwise self-limited infection into a severe clinical course .
Taken together, these peer-reviewed data indicate that mutations or polymorphisms in IFNAR2, CD46, SLAM, TLR7, TLR8, RIG-I, and several HLA alleles can render individuals measles-susceptible and predispose them to adverse, occasionally fatal, outcomes following exposure to the wild-type virus or live vaccine.
Me and llm's - always check veracity with professionals
Liz Lucy Robillard
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