Pertussis vaccines and the challenge of inducing durable immunity.

Abstract

Pertussis has re-emerged as an important public health concern. In the 1990s whole-cell pertussis vaccines were replaced with less reactogenic acellular vaccines consisting of purified pertussis components. However, recent data show that protection from acellular pertussis vaccines is not long-lasting. Antibody levels wane rapidly following vaccination, likely a result of the inability of acellular pertussis antigens to stimulate long-lasting B cell memory. In addition, T cell responses to acellular pertussis vaccines are mixed Th2/Th1, while whole-cell pertussis vaccination and infection stimulate Th17 responses, important for host defense against extracellular mucosal pathogens. Consistent with this T cell skewing, acellular vaccines did not prevent colonization or transmission following challenge in nonhuman primates while whole-cell vaccinated and previously infected animals cleared the infection more rapidly.

• Authors: Jason M Warfel, Kathryn M Edwards
• Journal: Current opinion in immunology (Curr Opin Immunol) Vol. 35 Pg. 48-54 (Aug 2015) ISSN: 1879-0372 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 26091979 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Pertussis Vaccine
• Vaccines, Acellular

Topics

• Animals
• B-Lymphocytes (immunology)
• Humans
• Immunity
• Immunologic Memory
• Pertussis Vaccine (immunology)
• Th1 Cells (immunology)
• Th17 Cells (immunology)
• Th2 Cells (immunology)
• Vaccination
• Vaccines, Acellular (immunology)
• Whooping Cough (immunology, prevention & control)