Evolution of Bordetella pertussis over a 23-year period in France, 1996 to 2018

Valérie Bouchez (1, 2) , Sophie Guillot (1, 2) , Annie Landier (1, 2) , Nathalie Armatys (1, 2) , Soraya Matczak (1, 3) , French Pertussis Microbiology Study Group , Julie Toubiana (1, 2, 4, 5) , Sylvain Brisse (1, 2)

1 Biodiversité et Epidémiologie des Bactéries pathogènes - Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens
2 CNR - Centre national de Référence de la Coqueluche et autres Bordetelloses - National Reference Center for Whooping Cough and other Bordetella infections
3 Collège Doctoral
4 Département de Pédiatrie et maladies infectieuses [CHU Necker]
5 UPCité - Université Paris Cité

Background: Bordetella pertussis is the main agent of whooping cough. Vaccination with acellular pertussis vaccines has been largely implemented in high-income countries. These vaccines contain 1 to 5 antigens: pertussis toxin (PT), filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA), pertactin (PRN) and/or fimbrial proteins (FIM2 and FIM3). Monitoring the emergence of B. pertussis isolates that might partially escape vaccine-induced immunity is an essential component of public health strategies to control whooping cough. Aim: We aimed to investigate temporal trends of fimbriae serotypes and vaccine antigenexpression in B. pertussis over a 23-year period in France (1996-2018). Methods: Isolates (n = 2,280) were collected through hospital surveillance, capturing one third of hospitalised paediatric pertussis cases. We assayed PT, FHA and PRN production by Western blot (n = 1,428) and fimbriae production by serotyping (n = 1,058). Molecular events underlying antigen deficiency were investigated by genomic sequencing.

Mots clés: Bordetella pertussis; vaccine antigen deficiency; pertactin; fimbriae serotype; population evolution

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Valérie Bouchez, Sophie Guillot, Annie Landier, Nathalie Armatys, Soraya Matczak, et al.. Evolution of Bordetella pertussis over a 23-year period in France, 1996 to 2018. Eurosurveillance, 2021, 26 (37), ⟨10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.37.2001213⟩. ⟨pasteur-03349287⟩