Plasmablast-derived polyclonal antibody response after influenza vaccination.

Conventional measurement of antibody responses to vaccines largely relies on serum antibodies, which are primarily produced by bone marrow plasma cells and may not represent the entire vaccine-induced B cell repertoire, including important functional components such as those targeted to mucosal sites. After immunization or infection, activated B cells differentiate into plasmablasts in local lymphoid organs, then traffic through circulation to the target sites where they further develop into plasma cells. On day 7 after influenza vaccination, a burst of plasmablasts, highly enriched for vaccine-specific antibody secreting cells, appears in the peripheral blood.

Cellular immune responses in children and adults receiving inactivated or live attenuated influenza vaccines.

The patterns of cellular immune responses induced by live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV) versus those of the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (TIV) have not been studied extensively, especially in children. The goals of this study were to evaluate the effects of TIV and LAIV immunization on cellular immunity to live influenza A virus in children and adults and to explore factors associated with variations in responses to influenza vaccines among individuals. A gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) flow cytometry assay was used to measure IFN-gamma-producing (IFN-gamma+) NK and T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cell cultures stimulated with a live influenza A virus strain before and after LAIV or TIV immunization of children and adults.