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Pertussis vaccine not protective against B. parapertussis
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SAN DIEGO — Although Tdap vaccination protects against whooping cough infection from Bordetella pertussis, it was not effective against a similar infectious species, B. parapertussis, according to data presented at ICAAC 2015.
“Bordetella parapertussis is a different species than Bordetella pertussis,” study researcher Robin Patel, MD, director of the infectious diseases research laboratory at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, told Infectious Diseases in Children. “The former is less common than the latter, and appears to affect a younger group of patients. The pertussis vaccine does not appear to protect against Bordetella parapertussis. Also, not all tests for pertussis detect Bordetella parapertussis.”
Robin Patel
The researchers analyzed pediatric patients, aged younger than 1 year to 11 years, admitted to a hospital during a 2014 outbreak of B. parapertussis in Minnesota. The patients who tested positive for B. parapertussis (n = 31) were reviewed to determine pertussis vaccination status.
Of the 25 patients with B. parapertussis who consented to record review, all were current on their pertussis vaccination and exhibited pertussis-like symptoms.
“Our finding is consistent with other research previous to ours,” Vytas P. Karalius, MPH, of Mayo Clinic, said in a news release. “The pertussis vaccine and its efficacy have been under recent scrutiny; it may be beneficial to consider targeting Bordetella parapertussis in the development of future vaccines.” – by Dave Costill
Reference:
Karalius V, et al. Bordetella parapertussis Outbreak, Southeastern Minnesota, 2014. Presented at: Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy; Sept. 17-21, 2015; San Diego.
Disclosure: Patel reports holding patents on B. pertussis/parapertussis PCR, an anti-biofilm substance, and a device/method for sonication.