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?

Pertussis remains a major health threat in the world and, of course, in the Czech Republic. The current epidemiological situation in developed countries, which have been gradually switching to cell-free pertussis vaccines since 1995, shows the lack of effectiveness of current vaccines to protect against the spread of potentially lethal pertussis infection in newborns and infants. To give you an idea in 2011, about 300 cases were reported in the Czech Republic, but in 2014 over 2,500 cases were reported.

The world professional community agrees that it is urgent to introduce a schedule of regular revaccination of adolescents and adults against pertussis with a more effective vaccine, preferably together with regular revaccination against tetanus. Thus, the next generation of a suitable pertussis vaccine needs to be rapidly developed. It is highly desirable to return of innovatively enhanced whole cell pertussis vaccine which, while maintaining high protective immunogenicity, will not exhibit undesirable side effects associated with the reactogenicity of conventional whole cell vaccines.

AIM OF OUR RESEARCH

We want to reduce unsatisfactory reactogenicity while maintaining good protection and to participate in new vaccination programs in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Our goal is to modify cultivation process and composition of the antigen component to produce a unique bacterin that will be used to prepare a new generation of whole-cell vaccine. Thus, the new generation of whole-cell pertussis vaccine will have significantly improved performance properties.

Research was also supported by the OPPIK project (PROJECT NUMBER: CZ.01.1.02 / 0.0 / 0.0 / 15_019 / 0005074). This project was successfully completed in 2020. The result of the solved Project is primarily a prescription for the preparation of a vaccine against Bordetella pertussis, which is applicable in the process of commercial vaccine production. Learn more about the results of the project.

We assume that the results of the submitted project are likely to be followed by a series of additional tests (preclinical or clinical) required by the European Medicines Agency before the vaccine is placed on the market.

CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY

A vaccine containing the modified bacterin will be significantly safer than previous whole-cell pertussis vaccine.

This type of vaccine solves the current dramatic increase in pertussis disease for the pediatric population as well as for adolescent and pregnant mothers all over the world.

The decrease in the occurrence of resistant bacteria represents a significant cost and time saving for the treatment of infectious diseases.

Moreover, it also has environmental consequences that will reduce the use of broad spectrum of antibiotics and the associated waste burden.