Antibody Responses to Meningococcal Vaccine in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients with Veno-Occlusive Disease Treated with Eculizumab
Antibody Responses to Meningococcal Vaccine in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients with Veno-Occlusive Disease Treated with Eculizumab

Antibody Responses to Meningococcal Vaccine in Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Recipients with Veno-Occlusive Disease Treated with Eculizumab

Infect Chemother. 2025 Jun;57(2):310-315. doi: 10.3947/ic.2025.0030.

ABSTRACT

Treatment with eculizumab increases the risk of invasive meningococcal infection (IMI). We evaluated tetravalent meningococcal vaccine responses in pediatric hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients with eculizumab for veno-occlusive disease (eculizumab group, n=4) and compared to patients with asplenia/polysplenia (asplenia/polysplenia group, n=2). Among the eculizumab group, two patients had a partial and full antibody response, respectively; two had no response. In contrast, the asplenia/polysplenia group showed full responses. These findings suggest poor vaccine response in HCT patients receiving eculizumab during the early post-HCT period, indicating limited meningococcal vaccine response and a need for antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent IMI in this group.

PMID:40618184 | DOI:10.3947/ic.2025.0030