Waning vaccine immunity in teenagers primed with whole cell and acellular pertussis vaccine: recent epidemiology

SL Sheridan, K Frith, TL Snelling… - Expert review of …, 2014 - Taylor & Francis
SL Sheridan, K Frith, TL Snelling, K Grimwood, PB McIntyre, SB Lambert
Expert review of vaccines, 2014Taylor & Francis
The recent epidemics of pertussis (whooping cough) in parts of the USA and Australia have
led to the largest numbers of annual cases reported in over half a century. These epidemics
demonstrated a new pattern, with particularly high rates of disease among pre-adolescents
and early adolescents. These high rates of pertussis coincided with the first cohorts
vaccinated with purely acellular pertussis vaccine, which replaced whole-cell pertussis (wP)
vaccine in the later 1990s in the USA and Australia. Studies undertaken during these …
The recent epidemics of pertussis (whooping cough) in parts of the USA and Australia have led to the largest numbers of annual cases reported in over half a century. These epidemics demonstrated a new pattern, with particularly high rates of disease among pre-adolescents and early adolescents. These high rates of pertussis coincided with the first cohorts vaccinated with purely acellular pertussis vaccine, which replaced whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine in the later 1990s in the USA and Australia. Studies undertaken during these epidemics provide new evidence of more rapid waning of acellular pertussis-containing vaccines and longer-term protection from effective wP-containing vaccines. There is evidence that receiving wP as at least the first dose of pertussis-containing vaccine provides greater and more long-lived protection, irrespective of the nature of subsequent doses. This evidence will be reviewed together with the immunobiology associated with both vaccines, and the implications for pertussis control discussed.
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