FY 2014 AMD Projects: Silencing the 100-day Cough

Using AMD technologies to understand changes in virulence of Bordetella pertussis and find effective vaccine components and diagnostic markers

A nurse in the process of administering an intramuscular vaccination into a girl’s left arm whose sister, mother, and grandmother watched from the background

CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommend that preteens get several vaccines at their 11 or 12 year old check-up, including the Tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap).

Thought to be a disease of the past, whooping cough (pertussis) has returned with a vengeance. Following a low of about 1,000 cases reported in the 1970s, the disease reached a nearly 60-year high of about 48,000 cases reported in 2012. Known as the “100-day cough,” pertussis can cause serious illness in people of all ages, but it is deadly for babies. The recent increase in this disease is likely because the newer and safer vaccine introduced in the 1990s does not provide high levels of long-lasting protection. The pertussis bacteria have also changed over time, and this also could be contributing to this unusual situation.

CDC has been working around the clock to understand what is driving the reemergence of pertussis. CDC’s recent analysis showed that one vaccine antigen, pertactin, is now missing in at least 9 of 10 specimens collected in the United States. Pertactin, a protein, is one of several components of all pertussis vaccines.The lab will map the complete genome of historic and currently circulating strains of Bordetella pertussis to look at how well the vaccine protects against these bacteria when they are lacking pertactin and if these genetic changes are contributing to the reemergence of pertussis.

Getting to the bottom of the strain change question is critical to CDC’s efforts to control pertussis in the United States. The answers will inform development of new pertussis vaccines and thereby help protect families from losing children to this illness.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR PROFILE

Maria Lucia C. Tondella, PhD

Chief, Pertussis and Diphtheria Laboratory Team
Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch
Division of Bacterial Diseases
National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

Maria Lucia Tondella, PhD is chief of the Pertussis and Diphtheria Laboratory Team within the Division of Bacterial Diseases’ Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch in CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.

Tondella is recognized as an international expert on laboratory aspects of pertussis. She is the principal investigator of the Latin America Pertussis Surveillance Project in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization, Sabin Vaccine Institute, and Ministries of Health from Panama, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia. She has broad experience in the development and evaluation of molecular methods—including cloning, DNA sequencing, and genomics—for diagnosis and subtyping bacterial pathogens.

Having already determined the complete genome sequences of 2 isolates of Bordetella species, Tondella is now leading the effort to map out the complete genome of historic and currently circulating strains of Bordetella pertussis. A recent laboratory analysis showed that one vaccine antigen, pertactin, is now absent in at least 9 out of 10 specimens collected in the United States. Through the genome sequencing research, scientists hope to determine if this recent genetic change is contributing to the reemergence of pertussis in the United States.

Tondella is a graduate of University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto in Brazil, and earned her PhD from the University of São Paulo’s Institute of Biomedical Sciences. In 2012, she received an Honor Award from CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases for her efforts to enhance laboratory capacity. She has co-authored more than 120 scientific publications.