Since the elimination of the measles virus, patients with vaccination records for the measles‐containing vaccine have increased in Japan. According to several studies, the transmission risk from previously immunized patients, especially those with secondary vaccine failure (SVF), is lower than that from those with primary measles infections. Immunological features of SVF were identified per specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) induction with high avidity and high plaque reduction neutralization antibody concentration. However, the virological features of SVF have not been well investigated. To examine not only immunological but also virological differences between SVF and immunologically naive patients, throat swabs and blood and urine specimens of 25 patients with confirmed measles infection after an outbreak at the Kansai International Airport in 2016 were analyzed. Patients were categorized as naive (n = 3) or with SVF (n = 22) based on measles‐specific IgG antibody concentrations and their avidity. Virus isolation and quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction were performed to quantify the viral load in clinical specimens and estimate the infectivity in each specimen. The number of viral genome copies in the blood specimens of those with SVF was significantly different and approximately 1 out of 100 of that in immunologically naive patients. However, genome copy numbers in throat swabs and urine specimens were not significantly different between the groups. The virus was isolated only from those in the naive group. Our study indicated low transmission risk of the virus in patients with SVF.

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Measles virus (MV) is one of the candidates for the application of oncolytic virotherapy (OVT). Although an advanced clinical study has been reported on a T-cell lymphoma, the potential of MV OVT against B-cell lymphomas remains to be clarified. We found that an EBV-transformed B lymphoblastoid cell line, a model for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and EBV-positive Burkitt's lymphoma cells bearing type III latency were highly susceptible to the cytolysis induced by an MV vaccine strain CAM-70. As analyzed by EBV-positive and -negative counterparts of the same cytogenetic background, type III EBV latency, not type I, was shown to augment the susceptibility of B lymphoma cells to MV-induced cytolysis. Cell surface levels of CD150/signaling lymphocytic activation molecule, a receptor of MV, were upregulated in B lymphoma cell lines with type III EBV latency by 3.8-fold, on average. The cytolytic activity of CD150-tropic WT MV was akin to that of CD46- and CD150-tropic CAM-70, suggesting that CD150 is critical for the susceptibility to MV-induced cytolysis. Among EBV-encoded genes, latent membrane protein 1 was responsible for the CD150 upregulation. It was notable that the majority of B lymphoma cell lines of type III EBV latency showed higher susceptibility to the non-Edmonston-derived CAM-70 than to the Edmonston-derived Schwarz strain. This is the first report indicating the potential of non-Edmonston MV strain for the application of OVT. Furthermore, a cellular regulator of MV replication was implicated that functions in a vaccine strain-specific fashion. Altogether, the MV OVT should serve as an alternative therapy against EBV-positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma with type III EBV latency.

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Although rubella is epidemic in Indonesia, the phylogenetic profile of circulating rubella virus strains has not been clarified. In 2017, rubella virus was detected in 2 travelers who returned from Indonesia to Japan. These strains were classified into genotype 1E lineage 2, which may be an indigenous strain in Indonesia.