A new study suggests that the way a baby is delivered may impact their immune system's response to two key childhood vaccines. Babies who are born vaginally were found to have higher antibody levels after receiving vaccines for lung infections and meningitis compared to those born via Caesarian s
According to the research, babies born via natural childbirth were found to have higher antibody levels after receiving vaccinations against bacteria that cause lung infections and meningitis, compared to those born via Caesarian section.
Researchers studied the relationship between gut microbes and antibody levels after vaccination in a cohort of 120 babies, who were vaccinated at 8 and 12 weeks against lung infections and meningitis. The researchers tracked the development of the gut microbiome – the community of microbes that lives in our body – in the child’s first year of life and their immune response to the vaccines by testing saliva samples at 12 and 18 months.
The team found a clear relationship between microbes in the gut of those babies and levels of antibodies. For example, among a host of bacteria in the gut, high levels of two in particular – Bifidobacterium and E. Coli – were associated with a high antibody response to the vaccine that protects against lung infections.