Low Specific T-Cell Immunity Against Mpox Elicited in People With HIV-1 and PrEP Users After Subcutaneous Vaccination Compared to Natural Infection.

Abstract

In August 2024, the World Health Organization declared mpox infection a Public Health Emergency of International Concern for second time since 2022 and recommended vaccinating all people at-risk, such as people with HIV-1 (PWH) and prophylaxis pre-exposition (PrEP) users. We recruited PWH and PrEP users who received one or two doses of subcutaneous Imvanex® or Jynneos® and compared specific T-cell immunity with participants who passed mpox natural infection or were Nonexposed to mpox. CD4 + T cells from people who had mpox showed the highest capacity to produce IL-2 (1.8-fold, p = 0.0328), as well as IFNγ (2.5-fold, p = 0.0247), and IL-4 (1.8-fold, p = 0.0373) from naïve CD4 + T cells, in response to MHC-II-restricted mpox-related peptides, compared to vaccinated participants. CD8 + T cells from individuals who had mpox also showed the highest capacity to produce IFN (1.6-fold, p = 0.0321) and TNF (2.1-fold, p = 0.0084) against MHC-I-restricted peptides. Therefore, the most potent and robust T-cell responses were developed after mpox infection, while they were barely detectable after vaccination. These results support the need to explore booster doses or improved vaccines to enhance cellular immunity in at-risk populations. More studies are needed to evaluate the capacity of mpox vaccines to confer long-term protection.