Childhood Vaccination of Whooping Cough Alters Infection Burden

Analyses of serological and social contact data from five European countries indicate that childhood vaccination against Bordetella pertussis (whooping cough) has shifted the burden of infection from children to adolescents and adults.

In the study, which was published in PLoS Medicine, Mirjam Kretzschmar and colleagues set out to determine “the impact of asymptomatic and undiagnosed infection on the transmission dynamics of pertussis,” a condition that has been on the rise in many countries over the past decade.

To estimate the incidence and basic reproduction number of pertussis, the researchers used cross-sectional data on the seroprevalance of antibodies to pertussis toxin, and used cross-sectional data on social contact patterns from five European countries.

The results of the study suggest that in countries with high childhood vaccine rates, adolescents and young adults are reservoirs for asymptomatic pertussis infection. They concluded that “if a vaccine conferring lifelong protection against clinical and subclinical infection were available, pertussis could be eliminated.”