Controlled Human Infection With Bordetella pertussis Induces Asymptomatic, Immunizing Colonization
Clinical Infectious Diseases·
- DOI
- 10.1093/cid/ciz840
- PMID
- 31562530
- PMCID
- PMC7353841
- OpenAlex
- W2965334090
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings provide evidence that asymptomatic B. pertussis colonization can be studied experimentally and may inform research on carriage and vaccine strategies. The abstract does not establish community transmission, population-level effects, or prevention effectiveness.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study examined whether Bordetella pertussis could establish asymptomatic nasopharyngeal colonization in humans and characterized associated microbiological and immune responses.
Study design
This was a controlled human infection study with 34 participants challenged in small groups using progressively higher inoculum doses. Colonization, symptoms, immune responses, and detection methods were assessed, and colonized participants received azithromycin.
Population and setting
Participants were healthy adults aged 18 to 45 years. The supplied abstract does not provide further setting details or characterize a community-based population.
Main findings
Colonization was observed more often at the highest reported dose, while only a minority reported minor symptoms. Among colonized participants, some developed antipertussis toxin IgG seroconversion; azithromycin cleared colonization within 48 hours in most treated colonized participants, and no shedding was detected in the systematically collected environmental samples.
Public-health relevance
The findings provide evidence that asymptomatic B. pertussis colonization can be studied experimentally and may inform research on carriage and vaccine strategies. The abstract does not establish community transmission, population-level effects, or prevention effectiveness.
Important limitations
The evidence comes from a small controlled challenge study of healthy adults, which limits direct generalization to other populations and routine community conditions. Environmental sampling did not detect shedding, and this summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata; the original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation.
GIDS interpretation
The article is discoverable under pertussis, transmission dynamics, treatment, and vaccination topics because it reports experimental colonization, detection, antibiotic clearance, and immune-response findings. It should be treated as single-study context and not as confirmation of a live surveillance signal.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 12 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.