COMPARISON OF VALUES OF ANTIBODY TO BORDETELLA-PERTUSSIS ANTIGENS IN YOUNG GERMAN AND AMERICAN MEN

Pertussis is well controlled in the United States by routine childhood immunization. In contrast, this disease is endemic and epidemic in Ge rmany because routine immunization has not been implemented. To gain i nformation relating to the epidemiology of Bordetellala pertussis infe ctions, we examined the prevalence and magnitude of B. pertussis agglu tinins and of IgG and IgA antibodies (detected by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay) to four B. pertussis antigens-lymphocytosis-promoting f actor, filamentous hemagglutinin, pertactin, and fimbriae-2-in the ser a of 119 American university students and 119 German military recruits of similar age. Geometric mean titers of agglutinins and geometric me an values for IBG antibodies to the four antigens were two- to threefo ld higher in sera from the American students than in sera from German recruits. In contrast, the geometric mean IgA values and the percentag e of subjects with detectable IgA antibodies to the four antigens were similar in the two populations. Since IgA antibody results mainly fro m infection and not from immunization, our data suggest that B. pertus sis infections are common among both American and German young adults despite the marked difference in rates of clinical pertussis in the tw o countries.