Whooping cough

WHAT IS WHOOPING COUGH?

Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease which is caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. The toxins attack and disrupt the ciliated epithelium in the nasopharynx, the lining of the trachea and bronchi, and another toxin penetrates into the blood.

Whooping cough occurs worldwide, with more cases reported in developing countries. Every year in the range of 30-50 million people fall ill. Children are vaccinated against whooping cough as part of regular vaccination, but protection is only temporary.

WHY RESEARCH IN THIS AREA?

Following the introduction of mass vaccination against pertussis in 1958, both mortality and morbidity associated with the disease rapidly and significantly declined. From tens of thousands of cases annually, the incidence of pertussis dropped to between 5 and 48 cases per year from the late 1970s until 1992. The lowest number of reported cases occurred in 1989, with only 5 cases registered. However, the current situation is once again dramatic. Since the beginning of January 2024, the Czech Republic has been experiencing a massive epidemic of whooping cough, which has already resulted in 6 deaths (1 infant and 5 elderly individuals). From April to the end of June, more than 1,000 cases were diagnosed weekly. It is estimated that 20,000 to 50,000 individuals per week are infected carriers who did not seek medical care, as the vast majority of infections in fully vaccinated individuals go undetected, thus enabling the extensive spread of the pathogen in the population. The resurgence of whooping cough is a pan-European issue.

OUR RESEARCH IN THIS AREA

Our research activities aim to help stop this dramatically increasing trend in pertussis cases.

From 2017 to 2020, we focused on developing an innovative whole-cell-based pertussis vaccine characterized by reduced reactogenicity. The research project was based on the goal of obtaining a set of modified bacterial strains suitable for constructing a pertussis vaccine. Additional objectives included the innovation and optimization of related technological processes. Specifically, the project addressed the optimization of cultivation procedures, preparation of a mineral carrier, and finalization steps in the vaccine’s formulation. This research was carried out under the OPPIK project (PROJECT NUMBER: CZ.01.1.02/0.0/0.0/15_019/0005074), which was successfully completed in 2020. The main outcome of the project was a protocol for the preparation of a vaccine against Bordetella pertussis, which is suitable for commercial vaccine production. You can learn more about the project results [here].

Our current research builds upon the results of the previous project. Our goal is to utilize the earlier outcomes to develop an easily applicable immunization product capable of inducing mucosal immunity against B. pertussis infection. The objective is to create a product that allows for easy, safe, and widespread administration of a booster dose in a suitable non-invasive form—namely a mucoadhesive tablet, inserted repeatedly into the oral cavity to induce group mucosal immunity against pertussis.

We are currently collaborating on this project with the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Bacterial Pathogens, which is part of the Institute of Microbiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences. This laboratory holds a unique position in the Czech Republic and is internationally recognized as a leading institution in the research of the whooping cough pathogen.

The current project will receive financial support from the TREND programme as part of the 12th public competition of the programme, which is facilitated by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic (TA CR).