Estudio cualitativo sobre información, confianza y acceso a la vacunación contra COVID-19 en adolescentes en un centro de salud de Buenos Aires / Qualitative study on information, trust in and access to COVID-19 vaccines among adolescents at a healthcare center in Buenos Aires

Introducción. En la adolescencia, se comienzan a tomar decisiones autónomas sobre la salud. En la vacunación intervienen dimensiones contextuales, grupales y relativas a cada vacuna. Se busca conocer el proceso de información, confianza y decisión de vacunarse contra COVID-19 en adolescentes usuarios de un centro de salud en Buenos Aires. Objetivos. Identificar ámbitos y canales a través de los cuales los adolescentes accedieron a información sobre la vacuna contra COVID-19 en un centro de salud de Buenos Aires. Describir sus opiniones respecto a los distintos discursos sobre vacunación. Describir su participación en la vacunación contra COVID-19. Identificar barreras y facilitadores respecto del acceso a la vacunación contra COVID-19 en esta población. Población y métodos. Investigación cualitativa. Se hicieron entrevistas semiestructuradas a adolescentes usuarios del efector. La muestra fue heterogénea; su tamaño se definió por saturación teórica. Se realizó un análisis temático de los datos. Resultados. Se realizaron 14 entrevistas. Los entrevistados recibieron información sobre la vacuna contra COVID-19 de sus familias, la televisión y las redes sociales. Todos recibieron tanto publicidad oficial como discursos reticentes a la vacunación. Analizaron la información recibida y formaron opinión autónoma. Su decisión sobre vacunarse no siempre fue respetada. La desconfianza, la baja percepción del riesgo, el temor a las inyecciones, las barreras administrativas y geográficas fueron motivos de no vacunación. Conclusiones. Se requieren estrategias de comunicación destinadas a adolescentes que promuevan su participación en el acceso a la vacunación.

Introduction. During adolescence, individuals start to make autonomous decisions about their health. Vaccination involves contextual, group, and vaccine-specific dimensions. We sought to know the information, trust, and decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine among adolescents who attended a healthcare center in Buenos Aires. Objectives. To identify settings and channels through which adolescents accessed information about the COVID-19 vaccine at a healthcare center in Buenos Aires. To describe their opinions about the different statements on vaccination. To describe their participation in COVID-19 vaccination. To identify barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination in this population. Population and methods. Qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews with adolescents who attended this healthcare facility. The sample was heterogeneous; the sample size was estimated by theoretical saturation. A thematic analysis of data was done. Results. A total of 14 interviews were conducted. Interviewees obtained information about the COVID-19 vaccine from their families, TV, and social media. All received information from both official campaigns and anti-vaccine communications. They analyzed the information they received and formed their own opinion. Their decision about the vaccine was not always respected. Hesitancy, a low perception of risk, fear of needles, administrative and geographic barriers were reasons for not receiving the vaccine. Conclusions. Communication strategies targeted at adolescents are required that encourage their involvement in access to vaccination.

Occurrence of adverse events following vaccination in patients with allergies: a prospective study.

OBJECTIVES: Allergic patients may be concerned about more frequent and/or more severe adverse events following vaccination, which may lead to the refusal of vaccines among these patients. The aim of this study is to assess whether allergic patients have more frequent adverse events (AEs) after vaccination than healthy individuals. METHODS: Study participants (N = 591) underwent vaccination of their choice at a selected Vaccination and Travel Medicine Centre. At a 10 to 14-day interval, they were contacted for a telephone questionnaire survey on the occurrence of AEs after vaccination. A group of allergic patients (n = 188) and healthy controls (n = 403) were followed in the study. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in the occurrence of AEs between study and control group. Only in redness and swelling, which was more common in allergic patients, but only in a few individuals. All side effects were minor, such as pain at the injection site or fatigue. No participant experienced a serious or life-threatening adverse event. In the studied group, no statistically significant differences were found even in the occurrence of AEs after singular vs. simultaneous administration of vaccines (p = 0.094), nor after vaccination with inactivated vs. attenuated vaccines (p = 0.655), or after vaccination against bacterial vs. viral infections (p = 0.140). CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination of allergic patients did not cause more frequent and/or more serious adverse events in our study compared to healthy people. If general contraindications are observed, then vaccination of allergic patients is considered safe.

A Prime-Boost Vaccination Approach Induces Lung Resident Memory CD8+ T Cells Derived from Central Memory T Cells That Prevent Tumor Lung Metastasis.

Memory T cells play a key role in immune protection against cancer. Vaccine-induced tissue-resident memory T (TRM) cells in the lung have been shown to protect against lung metastasis. Identifying the source of lung TRM cells can help to improve strategies, preventing tumor metastasis. Here, we found that a prime-boost vaccination approach using intramuscular DNA vaccine priming, followed by intranasal live-attenuated influenza-vectored vaccine (LAIV) boosting induced higher frequencies of lung CD8+ TRM cells compared with other vaccination regimens. Vaccine-induced lung CD8+ TRM cells, but not circulating memory T cells, conferred significant protection against metastatic melanoma and mesothelioma. Central memory T (TCM) cells induced by the DNA vaccination were major precursors of lung TRM cells established after the intranasal LAIV boost. Single-cell RNA sequencing analysis indicated that transcriptional reprogramming of TCM cells for differentiation into TRM cells in the lungs started as early as day 2 post the LAIV boost. Intranasal LAIV altered the mucosal microenvironment to recruit TCM cells via CXCR3-dependent chemotaxis and induced CD8+ TRM-associated transcriptional programs. These results identified TCM cells as the source of vaccine-induced CD8+ TRM cells that protect against lung metastasis. Significance: Prime-boost vaccination shapes the mucosal microenvironment and reprograms central memory T cells to generate lung resident memory T cells that protect against lung metastasis, providing insights for the optimization of vaccine strategies.

Tonsil explants as a human in vitro model to study vaccine responses.

Introduction: Vaccination is one of the most effective infection prevention strategies. Viruses with high mutation rates -such as influenza- escape vaccine-induced immunity and represent significant challenges to vaccine design. Influenza vaccine strain selection is based on circulating strains and immunogenicity testing in animal models with limited predictive outcomes for vaccine effectiveness in humans. Methods: We developed a human in vitro vaccination model using human tonsil tissue explants cultured in 3D perfusion bioreactors to be utilized as a platform to test and improve vaccines. Results: Tonsils cultured in bioreactors showed higher viability, metabolic activity, and more robust immune responses than those in static cultures. The in vitro vaccination system responded to various premanufactured vaccines, protein antigens, and antigen combinations. In particular, a multivalent in vitro immunization with three phylogenetically distant H3N2 influenza strains showed evidence for broader B cell activation and induced higher antibody cross-reactivity than combinations with more related strains. Moreover, we demonstrate the capacity of our in vitro model to generate de novo humoral immune responses to a model antigen. Discussion: Perfusion-cultured tonsil tissue may be a valuable human in vitro model for immunology research with potential application in vaccine candidate selection.

Common measures of vaccination intention generate substantially different estimates that can reduce predictive validity.

Surveys often estimate vaccination intentions using dichotomous ("Yes"/"No") or trichotomous ("Yes," "Unsure," "No") response options presented in different orders. Do survey results depend on these variations? This controlled experiment randomized participants to dichotomous or trichotomous measures of vaccine intentions (with "Yes" and "No" options presented in different orders). Intentions were measured separately for COVID-19, its booster, and influenza vaccines. Among a sample of U.S. adults (N = 4,764), estimates of vaccine intention varied as much as 37.5 ± 17.4 percentage points as a function of the dichotomous or trichotomous response set. Among participants who had not received the COVID-19 vaccine, the "Unsure" option was more likely to reduce the share of "No" (versus "Yes") responses, whereas among participants who had received the COVID-19 vaccine, the "Unsure" option was more likely to reduce the share of "Yes" (versus "No") responses. The "Unsure" category may increase doubt and decrease reliance on past vaccination behavior when forming intentions. The order of "Yes" and "No" responses had no significant effect. Future research is needed to further evaluate why the effects of including the "Unsure" option vary in direction and magnitude.

Awareness of HPV and HPV vaccine among college students in China.

Background: Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women, HPV vaccine can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer by approximately 70%. Sexual behavior is a direct risk factor for HPV infection, and sexually active college students, therefore, receive attention for HPV vaccination. This study aimed to investigate the awareness of HPV and its vaccine among college students in Zhengzhou, and to explore the factors influencing their awareness of HPV vaccine, to understand college students' willingness to receive the vaccine. The findings of this study will lay a foundation for cervical cancer prevention. Methods: Using a multistage random sampling method, 650 college students from four universities in Zhengzhou were selected. A self-administered questionnaire on the awareness of HPV and its vaccine, and willingness to receive HPV vaccination was carried out. Logistic regression was used to analyze the factors influencing students' awareness of the HPV vaccine. Results: 58.0% of college students had heard of HPV, and 72.8% of college students had heard of HPV vaccine. Logistic regression showed that gender, major, grade, mean monthly consumption level, sexual history, and mother cervical cancer screening participation significantly influenced the awareness of HPV vaccine (p < 0.05). Only 27(4.2%) college students had received the HPV vaccine. 63.2% of college students expressed their willingness to get vaccinated. Conclusion: The awareness of HPV and its vaccine among college students in Zhengzhou needs improvement. Although the vaccination rate is low, most college students are willing to be vaccinated. Diverse health education programs should be conducted for different groups to improve awareness of cervical cancer prevention and promote vaccination.

Development, study, and comparison of models of cross-immunity to the influenza virus using statistical methods and machine learning.

INTRODUCTION: The World Health Organization considers the values of antibody titers in the hemagglutination inhibition assay as one of the most important criteria for assessing successful vaccination. Mathematical modeling of cross-immunity allows for identification on a real-time basis of new antigenic variants, which is of paramount importance for human health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study uses statistical methods and machine learning techniques from simple to complex: logistic regression model, random forest method, and gradient boosting. The calculations used the AAindex matrices in parallel to the Hamming distance. The calculations were carried out with different types and values of antigenic escape thresholds, on four data sets. The results were compared using common binary classification metrics. RESULTS: Significant differentiation is shown depending on the data sets used. The best results were demonstrated by all three models for the forecast autumn season of 2022, which were preliminary trained on the February season of the same year (Auroc 0.934; 0.958; 0.956, respectively). The lowest results were obtained for the entire forecast year 2023, they were set up on data from two seasons of 2022 (Aucroc 0.614; 0.658; 0.775). The dependence of the results on the types of thresholds used and their values turned out to be insignificant. The additional use of AAindex matrices did not significantly improve the results of the models without introducing significant deterioration. CONCLUSION: More complex models show better results. When developing cross-immunity models, testing on a variety of data sets is important to make strong claims about their prognostic robustness.

Molecular detection of high-risk papillomaviruses and vaccination status in normal cytology in Congo.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to identify the molecular prevalence of high-risk HPV infection and the distribution of genotypes present in normal cytology, as well as to determine the vaccination status of our study population. METHODS: 110 cervical samples were taken from individuals, and 1 ml of each sample was added to the Xpert HPV cartridge in the sample compartment before it was placed in the Cepheid GeneXpert system. Detection was performed simultaneously via amplification of the E6 and E7 genes in five fluorescent channels (HPV16, HPV18/45, HPV31/33/35/52/58, HPV51/59, and HPV39/56/66/68a). RESULTS: 36/110 (33%) of all samples tested were positive for HPV DNA. The predominant genotypes were HPV16 (12.7%) and other pooled HR-HPV types (8.2%). All women who received the Gardasil-9 vaccine (3.6%) had HPV, and infection was associated with travel outside Africa. 96.4% of the screened individuals had not received any HPV vaccine. CONCLUSION: Our research confirms a widespread HR-HPV infection in our population and extends the importance of studies on the molecular prevalence of HPV, particularly in women with normal cytology and apparent good health, in view of the cruel lack of public awareness of HPV infections.

Time to COVID-19 Vaccination by Language and Country of Origin.

Importance: Disparities in COVID-19 vaccination rates by race and ethnicity are well documented. Less is known about primary language and COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Objective: To describe the time to COVID-19 primary series vaccination and booster doses by primary language and country of origin. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study included patients aged 6 months or older with at least 1 health encounter from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2023, at a single health care system serving patients across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Exposure: Primary language and country of origin documented in the electronic health record. Main Outcomes and Measures: Three COVID-19 vaccine coverage outcomes were evaluated: (1) primary series (1 Ad26.COV.S vaccine or 2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccines), (2) first-generation booster (primary series Ad26.COV.S vaccine plus 1 Ad26.COV.S or mRNA COVID-19 vaccine at least 2 months after the second dose or primary series mRNA vaccine plus 1 mRNA vaccine at least 5 months after the second dose), and (3) bivalent booster. Vaccine coverage was described by patient characteristics. Associations of primary language, race and ethnicity, and other patient characteristics with COVID-19 vaccine uptake were evaluated using time-to-event analysis in multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models, and adjusted hazard ratios (AHRs) with 95% CIs were reported. Results: There were 1 001 235 patients included (53.7% female). Most patients reported English as a primary language (94.1%) and were born in the US (91.8%). Primary series coverage was 63.7%; first-generation booster coverage, 64.4%; and bivalent booster coverage, 39.5%. Coverage for all outcomes was lower among those with a non-English primary language compared with English as the primary language (56.9% vs 64.1% for primary series; 47.5% vs 65.3% for first-generation booster; 26.2% vs 40.3% for bivalent booster). Those with a non-English primary language had lower COVID-19 vaccine uptake for the primary series (AHR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.84-0.86), first-generation booster (AHR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.73-0.75), and bivalent booster (AHR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.64-0.67) compared with patients with English as their primary language. Non-US-born patients had higher primary series uptake compared with US-born patients (AHR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.18-1.20) but similar first-generation booster (AHR, 1.01; 95% CI, 0.99-1.02) and bivalent booster (AHR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.98-1.02) uptake. Conclusions and Relevance: In this retrospective cohort study, patients with a non-English primary language had both lower coverage and delays in receiving COVID-19 vaccines compared with those with English as their primary language. Reporting on language may identify health disparities that can be addressed with language-specific interventions.

Hospitalizations and emergency attendance averted by influenza vaccination in Victoria, Australia, 2017 - 2019.

Seasonal influenza epidemics result in high levels of healthcare utilization. Vaccination is an effective strategy to reduce the influenza-related burden of disease. However, reporting vaccine effectiveness does not convey the population impacts of influenza vaccination. We aimed to calculate the burden of influenza-related hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) attendance averted by influenza vaccination in Victoria, Australia, from 2017 to 2019, and associated economic savings. We applied a compartmental model to hospitalizations and ED attendances with influenza-specific, and pneumonia and influenza (P&I) with the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Australian Modification (ICD-10-AM) diagnostic codes of J09-J11 and J09-J18, respectively. We estimated an annual average of 7657 (120 per 100000 population) hospitalizations and 20560 (322 per 100000 population) ED attendances over the study period, associated with A$85 million hospital expenditure. We estimated that influenza vaccination averted an annual average of 1182 [range: 556 - 2277] hospitalizations and 3286 [range: 1554 - 6257] ED attendances and reduced the demand for healthcare services at the influenza season peak. This equated to approximately A13 [range: A6 - A25] million of savings over the study period. Calculating the burden averted is feasible in Australia and auseful approach to demonstrate the health and economic benefits of influenza vaccination.

Immuno-protective effect of commercial IBD vaccines against emerging novel variant infectious bursal disease virus in specific-pathogen-free chickens.

IMPORTANCE: Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an important viral poultry disease that vaccination can control. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the immune protection of immune-complex (Vaccine A) and attenuated live (Vaccine B) IBD vaccines in specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chickens against a novel Malaysian variant IBD virus (vaIBDV) challenge. METHODS: One-day-old (n =75) SPF chickens were divided randomly into the following three groups of 25 chicks each: Control, Vaccine A, and Vaccine B groups. The vaIBDV strain, UPM1432/2019, was used for the challenge at 21 and 28days post-vaccination (dpv). Five birds from unchallenged and challenged groups were sacrificed seven days post-challenge, and blood, bursa, spleen, and cloacal swabs were collected. The IBD antibodies (Abs), lymphoid lesions, and viral load were determined. RESULTS: The UPM1432/2019 virus induced bursal damage in vaccinated SPF chickens despite Ab titers. The mean Ab titers of the Vaccine A challenged group were significantly lower (p < 0.002) than in the unchallenged group at 28 dpv. The bursal indices of the vaccinated unchallenged groups did not differ significantly from those of the vaccinated challenged groups (p = 0.94). Microscopically, the bursae of the challenged groups showed significant atrophy. The bursal lesion score was higher (p < 0.05) in the control and Vaccine B challenged groups than the Vaccine A challenged group. The challenged group had a higher viral load than the vaccinated groups (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Neither vaccine fully protected against a vaIBDV challenge, highlighting the limitations of current vaccines and the need for further research.

Effectiveness of influenza vaccines in children aged 6 to 59 months: a test-negative case-control study at primary care and hospital level, Spain 2023/24.

During 2023/24, all children aged 6 to 59 months were targeted for seasonal influenza vaccination in Spain nationally. Using a test-negative case-control design with sentinel surveillance data, we estimated adjusted influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against any influenza type to be 70% (95% confidence interval (CI): 51 to 81%) for primary care patients with acute respiratory illness (ARI) and 77% (95% CI: 21 to 93%) for hospitalised patients with severe ARI. In primary care, where most subtyped viruses (61%; 145/237) were A(H1N1), adjusted IVE was 77% (95% CI: 56 to 88%) against A(H1N1)pdm09.

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among unvaccinated individuals in a primary care setting, Pretoria.

BACKGROUND:  South Africa faced challenges while implementing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) measures such as mass vaccination. Some people rejected or were hesitant to receive government-recommended vaccines. This study explored COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy among unvaccinated individuals in a primary care setting in Pretoria, South Africa. METHODS:  This was an exploratory phenomenological study that included one-on-one interviews with 12 individuals at Temba Community Health Centre in Pretoria, South Africa. RESULTS:  The research revealed five themes: perceptions of COVID-19 disease, perceptions of COVID-19 vaccine, factors related to non-vaccination, information sources about the COVID-19 vaccine, and long-term vaccination decisions. There were seven linked sub-themes. CONCLUSION:  Overall, participants had a good understanding of COVID-19 disease, but limited knowledge about the vaccine, causing hesitancy to get vaccinated. Reasons for not getting vaccinated included health-related concerns, safety concerns, personal experiences, and social and political factors. Safety and health-related concerns were prevalent, with adverse vaccine outcomes being the most common concern. Most participants had experienced a historic encounter with a vaccine-related death or illness.Contribution: Vaccine hesitancy should be viewed as a powerful concern from the community, and a key source of worry for the health authorities over any vaccine-related doubt.

Immunogenicity and immune persistence of Zagreb 2-1-1 regimen of rabies vaccine in Chinese healthy individuals: A randomized, parallel-controlled of homologous vaccine with different immune procedure study.

This study was a randomized, parallel-controlled of homologous vaccines with different immune procedure research to evaluate the immunogenicity and immune persistence of Zagreb 2-1-1 regimen of rabies vaccine in Chinese healthy individuals. 240 subjects aged ≤ 20、21-50、≥51 y were randomly divided into 2 groups (1:1), Zagreb 2-1-1 regimen receivers as experimental group and Essen 5 regimen receivers as controlled group. Researchers collected venous blood of each subject before vaccine injection and on the day 7, 14, 42, 180, 365 after first dose. The immunogenicity and immune persistence was assessed by neutralizing antibody. The positive rate of neutralizing antibody in experimental group was 14.53% on the 7th day, and raised to 100% on the 14th day. It showed no significant difference between experimental and controlled group (P>0.05). Either in experimental or controlled group, GMC of neutralizing antibody was up to the peak on the 14th day, and it showed no significant difference between two groups (P>0.05). On the 42nd day, the antibody positive rate remained 100% with both Zagreb 2-1-1 and Essen 5 regimens, and the GMC of antibodies also remained high level. Then, on the 180th and 365th day with both regimens, the GMC of antibodies dropped dramatically, although it remained above the protective level of 0.5 IU/ml, the positive rates dropped to 84.40% and 84.11% (on the 180th day), and 61.29% and 58.62% (on the 365th day). Rabies vaccine injected by Zagreb 2-1-1 regimen can produce neutralizing antibody fastly and perdurably.Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov #NCT01821911and NCT01827917.

Switching from a 2-dose to a 1-dose program of gender-neutral routine vaccination against human papillomavirus in Canada: a mathematical modelling analysis.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, countries are examining whether to implement 1-dose human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination instead of using 2 doses. To inform policy, we sought to project the population-level impact and efficiency of switching from 2-dose to 1-dose gender-neutral routine HPV vaccination in Canada. METHODS: We used HPV-ADVISE, an individual-based transmission-dynamic model of HPV infections and diseases, to mathematically model vaccination programs in 2 provinces, Quebec, a province with high HPV vaccination coverage (around 85%), and Ontario, which has lower coverage (around 65%). We examined non-inferior and pessimistic scenarios of the efficacy (vaccine efficacy of 98% or 90%) and average vaccine duration (lifelong, 30 yr, or 25 yr) of 1 dose compared with 2 doses (98% vaccine efficacy, lifelong vaccine duration). Our main outcomes were the relative reduction in HPV-16 (by sex) and cervical cancers, and the number of doses needed to prevent 1 cervical cancer. RESULTS: Our model projected that 1-dose HPV vaccination would avert a similar number of cervical cancers as 2 doses in Canada, under various scenarios. Under the most pessimistic scenario (25-yr vaccine duration), 1-dose vaccination would avert fewer cervical cancers than 2 doses, by about 3 percentage points over 100 years. All 1-dose scenarios were projected to lead to elimination of cervical cancer (< 4 cervical cancers/100 000 female-years) and to be a substantially more efficient use of vaccine doses than a 2-dose scenario (1-dose v. no vaccination = 800-1000 doses needed to prevent 1 cervical cancer; incremental doses for 2-dose v. 1-dose vaccination > 10 000 doses needed to prevent 1 additional cervical cancer). INTERPRETATION: If the average duration of 1-dose protection is longer than 25 years, a 1-dose HPV vaccination program would protect those vaccinated during their peak ages of sexual activity and prevent a similar number of HPV-related cancers as a 2-dose program, while being a more efficient use of vaccine doses.

COVID-19 mRNA booster vaccination induces robust antibody responses but few adverse events among SARS-CoV-2 naïve nursing home residents.

Residents in nursing homes face heightened COVID-19 risks. We aimed to assess the adverse events (AEs) rates and antibody responses after the first to the fifth dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccination in a nursing home cohort. Ninety-five SARS-CoV-2 naïve participants consisted of 26 staff (median age, 51 years) and 69 residents (median age, 88 years). Life-threatening AEs were reported in neither residents nor staff. The severity of non-life-threatening AEs was graded, and severe AEs were reported only in staff. The AEs rates were considerably lower in residents, compared to those in staff. Anti-RBD IgG and the neutralizing titers (NTs) against Wuhan and Omicron BA.4/BA.5 did not differ significantly between those with 'any AE' and 'no AE' among both staff and residents two months after the second, third and fifth doses, while the anti-RBD IgG significantly differed between two groups after third dose in residents. These findings suggest that the anti-RBD IgG and the NTs increase regardless of the occurrence of AEs. Our study underscores a robust antibody response in both in staff and residents, and fewer AEs following COVID-19 vaccination in SARS-CoV-2 naïve residents than staff, supporting the recommendation for mRNA booster doses in older adults at high-risk care facilities.

Enhanced Staphylococcus aureus protection by uncoupling of the α-toxin-ADAM10 interaction during murine neonatal vaccination.

Staphylococcus aureus remains a leading global cause of bacterial infection-associated mortality and has eluded prior vaccine development efforts. S. aureus α-toxin (Hla) is an essential virulence factor in disease, impairing the T cell response to infection. The anti-Hla antibody response is a correlate of human protective immunity. Here we observe that this response is limited early in human life and design a vaccine strategy to elicit immune protection against Hla in a neonatal mice. By targeted disruption of the interaction of Hla with its receptor ADAM10, we identify a vaccine antigen (HlaH35L/R66C/E70C, HlaHRE) that elicits an ~100-fold increase in the neutralizing anti-Hla response. Immunization with HlaHRE enhances the T follicular helper (TFH) cell response to S. aureus infection, correlating with the magnitude of the neutralizing anti-toxin response and disease protection. Furthermore, maternal HlaHRE immunization confers protection to offspring. Together, these findings illuminate a path for S. aureus vaccine development at the maternal-infant interface.