Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Utilizing The Coughing Rat Model Of Pertussis To Improve Vaccine Efficacy, Jesse M. Hall

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a respiratory disease caused by the highly contagious, Gram-negative pathogen Bordetella pertussis (Bp). Infection occurs through inhalation of aerosolized droplets containing Bp, which then colonizes ciliated epithelial cells of the respiratory tract. Here, Bp expresses toxins and virulence factors that lead to leukocyte recruitment, paroxysmal cough, and impairment of host innate responses. Currently, in developed countries, acellular pertussis vaccines (aP; DTaP; Tdap) are used to prevent Bp infection and whooping cough disease. However, we currently realize that the aP vaccine efficacy quickly wanes resulting in a reemergence of pertussis. Recent …