THE MULTICENTER ACELLULAR PERTUSSIS TRIAL - AN OVERVIEW

A multicenter, randomized, double-blind study was undertaken in 2342 i nfants to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of 13 acellular and 2 whole cell pertussis vaccines combined with diphtheria and tetanus to xoids. Vaccines were administered to infants 2, 4, and 6 months of age . Sera were obtained before the first vaccination (age 2 months) and 1 month after the third vaccination (age 7 months). All of the acellula r vaccines produced significant increases in antibody for included ant igens; mean antibody levels often exceeded those obtained with the ref erence whole cell vaccine. The vaccines were well-tolerated. All acell ular vaccines were associated with significantly fewer adverse reactio ns than the control whole cell vaccine.