Vaccination during pregnancy protects newborns from whooping cough

Whooping cough poses a serious threat to the lives of newborns. In many countries, children can receive the first of the three required doses of the vaccine only from two months of age, and their own immune response begins to form only after the second vaccination, which is usually given at about four months. To protect the baby during this vulnerable period, most European countries recommend vaccination against whooping cough for pregnant women. During pregnancy, the mother’s protective antibodies are transferred to the baby through the placenta, providing safe and effective passive protection from the moment of birth.

A team of international health scientists from the Charité clinic has shown for the first time that maternal antibodies are present in newborns not only in the blood, but also in the nasal mucosa – precisely the place through which infectious pathogens most often enter the body. According to the scientists, although it was known that antibodies are transmitted through the placenta, their discovery in the nasal mucosa was unexpected and important evidence of the high effectiveness of indirect immunization.

The international study involved 343 pregnant women from The Gambia who were vaccinated against either whooping cough or tetanus. In infants whose mothers received the whooping cough vaccine, the corresponding antibodies were detected both in the blood and in the nasal mucosa. Subsequently, specialists from the Gambia Medical Research Council at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine observed about 160 children, analyzing their blood and nasal secretions before and after routine vaccination against whooping cough with various types of vaccines.

The results showed that infants who received the whole-cell vaccine at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age had, on average, a stronger immune response compared to infants who received the acellular vaccine. The study authors note that more work is needed to understand how the findings may impact clinical protection and the choice of vaccination strategies in different settings. In Europe, an acellular vaccine has been used since 2005, while most low- and middle-income countries still predominantly use a whole-cell vaccine.