Pertussis vaccinations in Dutch children: memory immune responses

Despite high pertussis vaccination coverage, pertussis is reemerging in the Netherlands since 1996. In attempt to improve protection against whooping cough, two major changes in the national immunization program have been made; the introduction of a preschool booster vaccination in children 4 years of age in 2001 and the replacement of the whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine with an acellular pertussis (aP) vaccine at 2, 3, 4 and 11 months of age since 2005. Despite these changes, pertussis is still reemerging, although the incidence has shifted to adolescents and adults. In this thesis we studi... Mehr ...