Statistical Modelling of Waning Immunity After Shanchol™ Vaccination: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Introduction

Cholera remains a major public health threat in endemic settings, and oral cholera vaccine (Shanchol™) campaigns are increasingly used amid constrained global supply. However, practical decisions on revaccination require clearer, setting-specific estimates of how rapidly vaccine-induced vibriocidal antibodies peak and wane.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort kinetics analysis in Lukanga Swamps (Central Province, Zambia), enrolling adults (18-65 years) stratified by prior Shanchol™ exposure (0, 1, or 2 previous doses). All participants received two Shanchol™ doses 14 days apart, with serum collected at baseline and days 14, 28, 60, and 90 (end of follow-up). Ogawa and Inaba vibriocidal titres were measured using a complement-based assay and analysed on the log10 scale. Serotype-specific mixed-effects models with natural cubic splines for time (knots: 14, 28, 60 days) assessed trajectories by prior-dose strata, adjusting for age, sex, and HIV status. Peak timing and post-peak half-life were derived from model-based predictions with participant-level bootstrap CIs (1000 replications).

Results

The analysis included 225 participants: 68 (30.2%) with zero prior doses, 89 (39.6%) with one, and 68 (30.2%) with two; median age was 33 years (IQR 25-49), 56.4% were female, and 19.2% were HIV-positive. Modelled titres for both serotypes rose steeply after vaccination, peaking around day 36-37 across prior-dose strata. Ogawa titres reached half of peak by about day 73-78, corresponding to post-peak half-lives of 37-41 days; Inaba declined more slowly with half-lives of 42-46 days. Confidence intervals overlapped across prior-dose strata, indicating minimal differences by vaccination history.

Conclusions

In this cholera-endemic adult population, Shanchol™ induced vibriocidal responses that peaked at ~5 weeks and waned over the following 5-7 weeks, with broadly similar kinetics regardless of prior vaccination and slightly slower decay for Inaba than Ogawa. These parameters can inform booster timing in hotspot settings.