Investigators: Sonia McAlister, Ruth Thornton, Peter Richmond
Project description
While the disease is generally thought exclusively as a childhood illness, incidence rates of whooping cough are increasing across all ages due to the short-lived immune responses induced by the vaccines we are currently using. Enhanced boosting strategies (giving more vaccines, more often) has been implemented to control disease resurgence, but this is not a long-term strategy and we don’t yet know if repeat vaccines given close together are safe, or what their long-term impacts will be. There are further implications regarding the potential interference between whooping cough vaccines and other vaccines given at the same time; such as the reports of reduced induction of antibodies to the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in babies born to women who received a whooping cough booster during pregnancy.
This project focuses on understanding the immune response to the whooping cough vaccines currently used across all age groups and during pregnancy. By knowing precisely how these current strategies work and interplay with co-administered vaccines, our goal is to guide future vaccine design and immunisation schedules to better protect against preventable infectious diseases, particularly whooping cough.
Project outputs
This research will direct future vaccine design and immunisation policy at a global scale. It could mean that future vaccination schedules will be based on an individual’s history instead of the one-size fits all approach we currently have. Ultimately, this will lead to better protection against whooping cough and other infectious diseases.
External collaborators
- Allison Imrie (The University of Western Australia)
- Herbert Ludewick (Heart and Lung Research Institute)
- Warren Pavey (Fiona Stanley Hospital)
- David Smith (PathWest)
Funders
- WCVID
- TPCHRF