Review of the laboratory approaches to the detection of antibody and cell-mediated immunity to pertussis disease and vaccine

Immune responses to whole cell and acellular pertussis vaccines have been evaluated using both humoral and cellular immune measures. Methods used to evaluate humoral responses have included ELISA to specific pertussis components, functional neutralization assays to pertussis toxin, and agglutination responses to whole pertussis organisms. Cellular responses after both whole cell and acellular vaccines and natural pertussis disease have also been evaluated by cytokine measurements and mitogenic responses. In general, the humoral responses to both whole cell and acellular vaccines have varied somewhat with the different vaccines, and have rapidly waned after vaccination, but memory B cells persist. Cellular immune responses after whole cell pertussis vaccines and natural disease generate predominantly Th1 responses, while acellular vaccines generate mixed Th1/Th2 responses. In spite of this knowledge, a number of unanswered questions remain as to how the immune responses to pertussis vaccines relate to protection against disease.