COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF A WHOLE-CELL PERTUSSIS-VACCINE AND A RECOMBINANTACELLULAR PERTUSSIS-VACCINE

The safety and immunogenicity of an acellular pertussis vaccine contai ning the genetically detoxified pertussis toxin PT-9K/129G, filamentou s hemagglutinin, and pertactin, together with diphtheria and tetanus t oxoids, were compared with those of a whole-cell pertussis component-d iphtheria-tetanus vaccine. Four hundred eighty infants were enrolled i nto this prospective, multicenter, double-blind study. Each infant was randomly given three doses of one of the two vaccines at 2, 4, and 6 months of age. Both local and systemic adverse reactions, reported wit hin 48 hours and 7 days of each injection, were less frequent after th e acellular vaccine than after the whole-cell vaccine. The enzyme-link ed immunosorbent assay titers to pertussis toxin, filamentous hemagglu tinin, and pertactin, as well as the pertussis toxin-neutralizing tite r measured by the Chinese hamster ovary cell assay, were significantly higher after the acellular vaccine was given. Both vaccines induced a dequate levels of anti-diphtheria and anti-tetanus antibodies. We conc lude that the recombinant acellular pertussis vaccine produces fewer r eactions than the whole-cell vaccine and provides a high antibody resp onse against the antigens of Bordetella pertussis involved in bacteria l adhesion and systemic toxic effects.