Replication Data for: Absence of Association between Cord Specific Antibody Levels and Severe Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Disease in Early Infants: A Case Control Study from Coastal Kenya

This dataset was generated from a study nested within a previous Kilifi Birth Cohort (KBC) study, conducted between 1999 and 2007 at KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, KEMRI CGMR-C, Kilifi, Kenya. The KBC resulted in an archive of cord and three-monthly follow-up sera from infants. The nested study involved selection from this dataset cases defined as severe RSV antigen confirmed infants admitted to Kilifi County Hospital (KCH), and controls defined as infants without documented severe RSV hospitalization matched to the case by date of birth and geographical location. Stored cord and follow samples from these cases and controls were screened for RSV specific neutralizing antibodies by the plaque reduction neutralisation test (PRNT). A comparison was made between levels of specific antibody at birth (and also rates of specific antibody decay in first 6 months of life) for cases and controls. The study arose out of interest shown by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) in maternal boosting as a vaccination strategy and in quantifying protective levels of neutralizing antibodies.