Chronic stress alters the immune response to influenza virus vaccine in older adults.

TLDR

The study aimed to determine whether caregiving for a spouse with progressive dementia, a chronic stressor, impairs immune response to influenza vaccination by comparing 32 caregivers with 32 matched controls. The authors compared vaccine responses of 32 caregivers to those of 32 sex‑, age‑, and socioeconomically matched controls. Caregivers exhibited poorer antibody responses by ELISA and hemagglutination inhibition, lower virus‑specific IL‑2 and IL‑1β levels, and overall down‑regulation of immune response to influenza vaccination, suggesting increased vulnerability to infection among older adults.

Abstract

To determine whether a chronic stressor (caregiving for a spouse with a progressive dementia) is associated with an impaired immune response to influenza virus vaccination, we compared 32 caregivers' vaccine responses with those of 32 sex-, age-, and socioeconomically matched control subjects. Caregivers showed a poorer antibody response following vaccination relative to control subjects as assessed by two independent methods, ELISA and hemagglutination inhibition. Caregivers also had lower levels of in vitro virus-specific-induced interleukin 2 levels and interleukin 1beta; interleukin 6 did not differ between groups. These data demonstrate that down-regulation of the immune response to influenza virus vaccination is associated with a chronic stressor in the elderly. These results could have implications for vulnerability to infection among older adults.