Asymptomatic Bordetella pertussis infections in young African infants and their mothers identified within a longitudinal cohort.

ABSTRACT: Despite long-standing vaccination programs, pertussis incidence has increased in numerous countries; transmission by asymptomatic individuals is a suspected driver of this resurgence. However, unequivocal evidence documenting asymptomatic infections in adults and children is lacking due, in part, to the cross-sectional nature of most pertussis surveillance studies. In addition, modern pertussis surveillance relies on quantitative PCR (qPCR) using fixed diagnostic thresholds to identify cases. To address this gap, we present a longitudinal analysis of 17,442 nasopharyngeal samples collected from a cohort of 1,320 Zambian mother/infant pairs. Using full-range cycle threshold (CT) values from IS481 qPCR assays, we document widespread asymptomatic infections among mothers and also, surprisingl

SUBMITTER: Gill CJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7685339 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature