Next-Generation Whooping Cough Vaccine

The National Institutes of Health awarded Tulane School of Medicine a contract for up to $8.5 million over five years to develop a more effective and longer-lasting vaccine against pertussis, more commonly known as “whooping cough.” Microbiologist Lisa Morici, PhD, and immunologist James McLachlan, PhD, will lead the project to use outer membrane vesicles, which are nanoparticles shed by bacteria as they grow, to stimulate a more potent immune response than current vaccines against the disease. Worldwide, there are an estimated 24.1 million cases of pertussis and about 160,700 deaths per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Despite widespread vaccination, pertussis cases have spiked in the U.S. in the last decade and a half with almost 18,000 reported in 2016. Part of the increase is blamed on limitations of the current vaccine, which doesn’t provide lasting immunity and may not prevent person-to-person transmission. Children must get a series of doses before age 1 and need another at the end of adolescence. Continued compliance is also an issue as adults need a booster shot to retain immunity.

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