A study comparing the immune response of patients with and without HIV to the pneumococcal vaccine found that T-follicular helper cells may play an important role in antibody production, reports Medical Xpress.
Dr Abudulai said that it was the first time that T-follicular helper cells had been shown to be important in the production of antibodies to pneumococcal vaccines.
“Our findings may lead to the development of new ways to assess the effectiveness of such vaccines,” she said.
Professor French said that the discoveries provided new information about why people with HIV infection were much more susceptible to pneumococcal pneumonia than those without HIV infection.
“Pneumococcal vaccines are very effective in preventing pneumonia but are less effective in people with compromised immune systems, particularly HIV-infected people,” he said.
“The findings presented in this paper shed important light on the mechanisms of antibody production after pneumococcal vaccination and how this is adversely affected by HIV infection.”
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