FDA scientist discusses recent pertussis vaccine study
Last week, a study conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that looked at the effectiveness of the acellular pertussis vaccines licensed by the FDA in preventing the disease among those vaccinated.
Today, I had the opportunity to talk to the Principal Researcher for this study, Tod Merkel, PhD, a Microbiologist in FDA’s Office of Vaccines Research and Review in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
During the 14 minute interview (Listen below), Dr. Merkel gave a primer on pertussis, or whooping cough, to include what is pertussis, what are the symptoms, who is most vulnerable and the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment.
Merkel also explained the differences between whole-cell and acellular pertussis vaccines. He noted that because of the minor side effects seen with the whole cell vaccine on the infant, “site of injection” reactions it is not likely that vaccine will make a comeback.
“The purpose of the study was not to suggest that we go back to the whole cell, the purpose of the study was to understand the differences between the two vaccines so we could design, hopefully, a better acellular vaccine”, Merkel noted.
In the interview, Merkel went over more specifics of the study, including their findings and what they concluded from these findings. It’s definitely an important and worthwhile study as researchers attempt to figure out why pertussis is increasing in the United States.
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