Objective: To investigate the transplacental transfer of maternal poliovirus antibodies in full-term and preterm births. Subjects: Two hundred healthy, Israeli born mothers participated in the study. They were divided into 2 grps: a full-term grp with 150 consecutive births above 37 weeks of gestation and the preterm grp with gestational age less than 35 weeks. Maternal and umbilical cord blood samples were taken in all cases. Serology: Antibody titers against the three poliovirus serotypes and the epidemic type 1 strain were measured by microneutralization system. Results: The percentages of protective poliovirus titers (1:8 or above) and their geometrical means(GMT) in mothers and cord bloods in the full-term and preterm groups, are presented in the table. The GMT's against poliovirus types 1, 1 epidemic and 3 were significantly lower in the preterm compared to full-terms. A significant linear correlation was found between maternal and cord blood antibody titers against each of the polio viruses tested in both full-term and preterm grps. ANOVA of the regression coefficients over grps showed that, for all poliovirus types, the transfer of maternal antibodies in the full-term grp was greater than the transfer of maternal antibodies in the preterm grp (p<0.001). Conclusion: Due to diminished transfer of maternal antibodies, preterm infants could be at greater risk of poliovirus infection. Early vaccination of preterm infants against poliovirus may be justified in polio endemic countries.

Table 1
Full size table

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