New Thoughts on Pertussis

The success of initial pertussis immunization programs resulted not only in a sharp decrease in the incidence of the disease but also in a diminution of interest in and research on the organism, and complacency with regard to the vaccine itself. Concern and apprehension about both the efficacy and the safety of pertussis vaccine have recently stimulated a renewed investigative interest in the biology of Bordetella pertussis. This occurs at a time. when cases of pertussis reported in the United States are at an all-time low (less than 2,000 in 1978 contrasted with more than 150,000 in 1950). This infrequency of clinical whooping cough contributes to our desire for a more critical examination of the rare serious complications attributed to the immunizing procedure.

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Complete Genome Sequence of Bordetella pertussis Strain VA-190 Isolated from a Vaccinated 10-Year-Old Patient with Whooping Cough

Genome Announcements ◽

10.1128/genomea.00972-16 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 (5) ◽

Author(s):

Joshua C. Eby ◽

Lauren Turner ◽

Bryan Nguyen ◽

June Kang ◽

Carly Neville ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Clinical Isolate ◽

Genome Sequence ◽

Bordetella Pertussis ◽

Complete Genome Sequence ◽

Complete Genome ◽

Whooping Cough ◽

The United States ◽

Laboratory Studies ◽

Long Read

The number of cases of pertussis has increased in the United States despite vaccination. We present the genome of an isolate of Bordetella pertussis from a vaccinated patient from Virginia. The genome was sequenced by long-read methodology and compared to that of a clinical isolate used for laboratory studies, D420.

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The History of Bordetella pertussis Genome Evolution Includes Structural Rearrangement

Journal of Bacteriology ◽

10.1128/jb.00806-16 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 199 (8) ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

Michael R. Weigand ◽

Yanhui Peng ◽

Vladimir Loparev ◽

Dhwani Batra ◽

Katherine E. Bowden ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Nucleotide Sequence ◽

Bordetella Pertussis ◽

Gene Order ◽

Complete Genome ◽

Whooping Cough ◽

The United States ◽

Content Type ◽

Nucleotide Sequence Diversity ◽

Genome Assemblies

ABSTRACT Despite high pertussis vaccine coverage, reported cases of whooping cough (pertussis) have increased over the last decade in the United States and other developed countries. Although Bordetella pertussis is well known for its limited gene sequence variation, recent advances in long-read sequencing technology have begun to reveal genomic structural heterogeneity among otherwise indistinguishable isolates, even within geographically or temporally defined epidemics. We have compared rearrangements among complete genome assemblies from 257 B. pertussis isolates to examine the potential evolution of the chromosomal structure in a pathogen with minimal gene nucleotide sequence diversity. Discrete changes in gene order were identified that differentiated genomes from vaccine reference strains and clinical isolates of various genotypes, frequently along phylogenetic boundaries defined by single nucleotide polymorphisms. The observed rearrangements were primarily large inversions centered on the replication origin or terminus and flanked by IS481, a mobile genetic element with >240 copies per genome and previously suspected to mediate rearrangements and deletions by homologous recombination. These data illustrate that structural genome evolution in B. pertussis is not limited to reduction but also includes rearrangement. Therefore, although genomes of clinical isolates are structurally diverse, specific changes in gene order are conserved, perhaps due to positive selection, providing novel information for investigating disease resurgence and molecular epidemiology. IMPORTANCE Whooping cough, primarily caused by Bordetella pertussis, has resurged in the United States even though the coverage with pertussis-containing vaccines remains high. The rise in reported cases has included increased disease rates among all vaccinated age groups, provoking questions about the pathogen's evolution. The chromosome of B. pertussis includes a large number of repetitive mobile genetic elements that obstruct genome analysis. However, these mobile elements facilitate large rearrangements that alter the order and orientation of essential protein-encoding genes, which otherwise exhibit little nucleotide sequence diversity. By comparing the complete genome assemblies from 257 isolates, we show that specific rearrangements have been conserved throughout recent evolutionary history, perhaps by eliciting changes in gene expression, which may also provide useful information for molecular epidemiology.

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Report of the Task Force on Pertussis and Pertussis Immunization—1988

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.81.6.933 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 81 (6) ◽

pp. 933-984 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

James D. Cherry ◽

Philip A. Brunell ◽

Gerald S. Golden ◽

David T. Karzon

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Pertussis Vaccine ◽

Whooping Cough ◽

Task Force ◽

The United States ◽

World Health ◽

Epidemic Disease ◽

The World ◽

Mass Immunization ◽

Health Organization

Pertussis (whooping cough) is an endemic and epidemic disease due to Bordetella pertussis. The disease has been and still is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in young children throughout the world. The World Health Organization estimates that 600,000 deaths due to pertussis occur yearly; virtually all of these deaths occurred in unimmunized infants.1 In the United States, pertussis has been successfully controlled by the routine mass immunization of infants and children. In the prevaccine era, there were 115,000 to 270,000 cases of pertussis and 5,000 to 10,000 deaths due to the disease each year.2 During the last 10 years, there have been 1,200 to 4,000 cases and five to ten deaths per year.3-6 Unfortunately, the control of pertussis by immunization has not enjoyed sustained international success because of controversy relating to vaccine reactions and effectiveness. Since 1982 this controversy has been a problem in the United States. Most pediatricians as well as a large number of parents are aware of the present pertussis vaccine controversy; however, few understand the facts. This controversy involving the media, political and legal sectors, and the scientific community is a major threat to our present immunization program and the future control of pertussis in the United States7-11 ("20/20," ABC News, Feb 5, 1985; "DPT: Vaccine Roulette," National Broadcasting Co, Date, 1982; Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, NY, March 8-12, 1987, p 1; The Fresno Bee, Dec 2-3, 1984, p 1; Dec 5, 1987, p B14). Because of this, a task force on pertussis and pertussis vaccine was created by the Executive Board of the American Academy of Pediatrics to review the problem.

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Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine combined with Bordetella parapertussis vaccine

Journal of Hygiene ◽

10.1017/s0022172400020398 ◽

1962 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 289-293 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Neda Köhler-Kubelka

Keyword(s):

Clinical Examination ◽

Pertussis Vaccine ◽

Bordetella Pertussis ◽

Whooping Cough ◽

Production Test ◽

Post Vaccination ◽

Bordetella Parapertussis ◽

Cross Reactions ◽

Combined Vaccine

Investigations carried out to ascertain the ability of various strains of Bordetella pertussis and B. parapertussis to produce agglutinins have shown that the agglutinin response is considerably greater with B. parapertussis.Children inoculated with a combined vaccine in which the parapertussis element contained B. parapertussis in only one-twelfth of the concentration of B. pertussis in the pertussis element showed agglutinins in their sera in titres well above 1:300 for both organisms. There were no cross-reactions and the serological responses were specific throughout. The vaccine used was the standard diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) prophylactic to which had been added a vaccine prepared from recently isolated strains of B. parapertussis.Agglutinin titres of both whooping cough components with the combined vaccine were somewhat lower in mice than was the case when monovalent vaccines were used, but they were considered to be satisfactory.It is suggested that the agglutination production test in mice could be used for the assessment of protective power of B. parapertussis vaccines against infection.I wish to thank Dr Ikić, director of the Institute of Immunology, Zagreb, who enabled me to perform all these examinations, further to Dr B. Mravunac and Dr Z. Radanov for having carried out vaccination in children and for the clinical examination of post vaccination reactions.

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Reported Whooping Cough Morbidity and Mortality in the United States

Public Health Reports (1896-1970) ◽

10.2307/4584441 ◽

1943 ◽

Vol 58 (17) ◽

pp. 661 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

C. C. Dauer

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Whooping Cough ◽

The United States ◽

Morbidity And Mortality

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Vitamin E and CNS Hemorrhage

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.74.6.1113 ◽

1984 ◽

Vol 74 (6) ◽

pp. 1113-1114

Author(s):

DALE L. PHELPS

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Vitamin E ◽

Premature Infant ◽

Premature Infants ◽

The United States ◽

The Other ◽

Sharp Edge ◽

Critical Examination ◽

Extreme Caution

Preventing handicaps in premature infants is a pressing goal, and vitamin E has been offering some hope for the prevention of one of the most emotionally distressing sequelae, blindness. The report of Speer et al1 confirms the observation of Chiswick et al2 that vitamin E may also reduce severe CNS hemorrhage, one of the other major handicapping conditions faced by the premature infant. Naturally, we welcome this information, but in our eagerness to find a cure, we must not blunt the sharp edge of critical examination of the data. Extreme caution must be still be exercised for the following reasons: (1) some questions have been raised about the data to be examined; (2) a third study suggests the opposite result3; and (3) there are significant differences in the vitamin E formulations that were used and those available for use in the United States.

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THE AGE DISTRIBUTION OF WHOOPING COUGH, MEASLES, CHICKEN POX, SCARLET FEVER AND DIPHTHERIA IN VARIOUS AREAS IN THE UNITED STATES*

American Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a121027 ◽

1928 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 759-799 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

W. THURBER FALES

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Scarlet Fever ◽

Whooping Cough ◽

Age Distribution ◽

The United States ◽

Chicken Pox

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A Critical Examination of Procedures Used in Britain and the United States to Determine Creep Stresses for the Design of Power Plant for Long Life at High Temperatures

Journal of Applied Mechanics ◽

10.1115/1.4010928 ◽

1954 ◽

Vol 21 (4) ◽

pp. 309-322

Author(s):

R. W. Bailey

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Power Plant ◽

Test Procedure ◽

Thermal Action ◽

The United States ◽

Critical Examination ◽

Operating Life ◽

Creep Tests ◽

Working Stress ◽

Long Time

Abstract The operating life of land power plant being far longer than allowable testing times for the constructional metals, the selection of a material, or the determination of its appropriate working stress, is dependent in an important degree upon the procedure followed in utilizing the creep-test results obtained. Different procedures practiced both in Britain and in the United States can result in different views regarding the potentialities of a material, and also about the working stress allowable. The paper examines the more commonly used procedures and focuses attention upon the factors present which would operate to introduce uncertainty and error as between the probable behavior in the long time of actual service, and as yielded by a test procedure. The principal disturbing factor in altering the resistance to creep of the material is thermal action. In some procedures, especially where the creep tests are made at working temperatures, the influence of this factor may be small or negligible in the procedure, compared with its magnitude in service. The need is emphasized for thermal action to be taken adequately into account by the test procedure. Next in importance as a possible source of error is the method of extrapolation beyond the test times to the time of the operating life. The factor of thermal action and of its representation in the several procedures examined is considered. The circumstances of extrapolation are similarly investigated, especially in regard to whether the result would overestimate or underestimate the safe working stress. Satisfying comparisons of working stresses using different procedures cannot at present be made. The position is therefore disappointing and one which it is very desirable should be rectified.

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