DISSECTING HUMAN T CELL RESPONSES AGAINST BORDETELLA SPECIES

Pertussis (whooping cough) is an infectious disease caused by Bordetella pertussis, which primarily affects infants and young children . The infection results in a severe paroxysmal cough persisting for weeks and can cause death when acquired within the first year of life. The cellular vaccine introduced in the forties drastically reduced morbidity and mortalitydue to whooping cough . The efficacy of the vaccine, composed of inactivated whole cells ofB. pertussis, usually administered with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids adsorbed with alum, is considered to be rather high (1, 2) . As a consequence of the disappearance of pertussis in many countries after extensive vaccination campaigns, public fears about adverse reactions to vaccination have grown . Indeed, these reactions can rangefrom frequent feverand local tenderness, to severe neurological complications and death . Thus, the use of the vaccine has decreased in several countries including Sweden, England, and Japan, with a resulting increase in infant mortality from the disease (3) . It is therefore evident that there is an urgent need for a new, safer and effective vaccine . Indeed, a new acellular vaccine, which includes soluble pertussis toxin (PT)' and filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), has been introduced in Japan, but the first controlled field trial performed in Sweden is providing controversial results (4) . Again, this new generation of pertussis vaccines will be the result of an empirical approach . In fact, very little is as yet known about the host immune response to B. pertussis . This makes the rational design of effective new vaccines very difficult, even though recombinant proteins from B. pertussis are now available (5-8) . The aim of this study was to investigate humoral and cellular responses in adults who had suffered from pertussis in childhood . On the basis of the high degree of protection in previously infected people, these studies were expected to help to define the minimal antigenic structures that may be worthy of consideration for introduction into a third generation recombinant or synthetic vaccine .