Maternal and neonatal vaccination protects newborn baboons from pertussis infection

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Vaccinology
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Pertussis (whooping cough) is resurging in the US, reaching a 60-year high in 2012.
• Infants too young for vaccination experience the most severe outcomes, including hospitalizations and deaths.
• Neonatal and maternal vaccination are proposed strategies to protect newborns before their first vaccine dose at 2 months.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the protective efficacy of neonatal and maternal vaccination against pertussis in a relevant animal model.
• To determine if vaccination of infants at birth or maternal vaccination during pregnancy confers protection against Bordetella pertussis challenge.

Main Methods:

• Baboons were vaccinated neonatally (2 days old) or with a prime-boost regimen (2 and 28 days old).
• Maternal vaccination was modeled by boosting pregnant baboons in their third trimester.
• Infants (neonatally vaccinated, maternally vaccinated, and unvaccinated controls) were challenged with B. pertussis at 5 weeks of age.

Main Results:

• Unvaccinated infant baboons developed severe pertussis when infected at 5 weeks of age.
• Infant baboons vaccinated neonatally were protected from severe disease.
• Infants born to mothers vaccinated during the third trimester were also protected.

Conclusions:

• Neonatal vaccination and maternal vaccination during the third trimester confer protection against pertussis in the baboon model.
• These findings support the investigation of these vaccination strategies for protecting newborns.
• Further research is warranted to confirm the efficacy of these approaches in preventing pertussis in human infants.