H5N1 Immune Response Correlates with Birth Year

New research from Scott Hensley, PhD, a professor of Microbiology, suggests that younger populations could gain more from vaccination efforts if an H5N1 outbreak were to emerge. The study reveals that immunity to H5N1 may hinge on the year you were born, linked to childhood exposure to earlier flu strains like H1N1 and H2N2, which are similar to H5N1. Researchers found that adults born before 1957 during the first wave of prevalent H1N1 circulation had higher levels of H5N1-specific antibodies, pointing to a phenomenon called immune imprinting. When vaccinated with an H5N1 vaccine, both younger and older participants produced antibodies, but children with initially low immunity experienced the most significant boost.