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Role of maternal pertussis antibodies in infants

Annelies Van Rie1, Aaron M Wendelboe, Janet A Englund

  • 1Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. vanrie@unc.edu

The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal
|May 7, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Pertussis poses a significant threat to infants before vaccination. Maternal antibodies offer limited protection, highlighting the need for enhanced infant immunity through maternal or neonatal pertussis vaccination strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Pediatrics
  • Vaccinology

Background:

  • Pertussis (whooping cough) is a severe disease in infants, with most fatalities occurring before 3 months of age, prior to initial vaccination.
  • Maternal antibodies transferred to infants provide short-lived protection, but protective levels are difficult to ascertain due to a lack of serologic correlates.
  • Current vaccination schedules leave young infants vulnerable during their first months of life.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate strategies for enhancing protection in young infants against pertussis.
  • To explore the potential of maternal or neonatal vaccination to bolster infant immunity against pertussis.

Main Methods:

  • Review of historical and recent studies on maternal and neonatal pertussis immunization.
  • Analysis of evidence from animal and human studies regarding the immunogenicity of acellular pertussis vaccines in neonates.

Main Results:

  • Historical attempts at maternal pertussis immunization in pregnancy yielded limited published data.
  • Recent research indicates that neonatal immunization with acellular pertussis vaccine can effectively prime T and B cells.
  • This neonatal priming may form a foundation for robust future immune responses against pertussis.

Conclusions:

  • Limited but promising data suggest maternal and neonatal pertussis immunization could protect vulnerable infants.
  • Further research is crucial to establish effective vaccination protocols to reduce infant pertussis mortality and morbidity.
  • Optimizing infant protection against pertussis requires exploring novel immunization approaches beyond traditional infant vaccination schedules.

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