Pertussis seroprevalence in adults, post-partum women and umbilical cord blood. / Pertussis seroprevalence in adults, post-partum women and umbilical cord blood.

ABSTRACT

Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease that affects people of all ages. Young adults who have lost their immunity to pertussis are the major source of infection in infants. Given the steady increase of pertussis cases, new prevention strategies are required. Objective. To assess pertussis seroprevalence in adult blood donors, post-partum women, and umbilical cords. Metod. Measurement of total titers of anti-Bordetella spp. (Bordetella) antibodies using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum samples from 103 donors, 101 post-partum women and 100 umbilical cords were analyzed. Titers <80 were considered of low impact against the disease. The assessment included transplacental transfer of antibodies and the umbilical cord/maternal ratio of antibody titers. Results. Donors mean age was 28 ± 6 years old. Mediananti-Bordetella titers 320; interquartile range (IQR)160-320; 10