Adolescent and adult pertussis vaccination: computer simulations of five new strategies

Area of Science:

• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Infectious Disease Modeling

Background:

• Pertussis (whooping cough) remains a significant public health concern, with approximately one million adult cases annually in the US and continued infant mortality.
• Current vaccination strategies primarily focus on children, but pertussis incidence is increasing in adolescents and adults.

Purpose of the Study:

• To predict the impact of different pertussis vaccination strategies on disease incidence in various age groups.
• To compare the effectiveness and efficiency of vaccinating children, adolescents, adults, and implementing a cocoon strategy for newborns' households.

Main Methods:

• Utilized computer simulations to model pertussis transmission dynamics under different vaccination scenarios.
• Calculated the number needed to vaccinate (NNV) to prevent one case of typical pertussis for each strategy.

Main Results:

• Childhood vaccination reduced pediatric cases but led to increased incidence in adolescents and adults.
• Routine adolescent and adult vaccination demonstrated a significant direct impact on disease reduction.
• The cocoon strategy primarily offered an indirect protective effect for young infants.
• Adolescent vaccination strategy showed the lowest NNV for overall population pertussis cases.
• The cocoon strategy exhibited the lowest NNV for preventing pertussis cases specifically in young infants.

Conclusions:

• The optimal pertussis vaccination strategy depends on factors including the current vaccination schedule, local epidemiology, age-specific disease costs, and population accessibility.
• Adolescent vaccination appears most efficient for broad population impact, while the cocoon strategy is most targeted for infant protection.