title: Assessment of serum anti-Bordetella pertussis antibody titers among medical staff members.
abstract: This study comparatively evaluated the titers of the bacterial agglutination (BA) antibody for Bordetella pertussis, anti-pertussis toxin (PT) antibody, and anti-filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) antibody in the serum of medical staff members. The geometric means of the anti-PT and anti-FHA antibody titers were 5.83 and 17.17 EU/mL, respectively. The positive rates of the BA antibodies against Tohama and Yamaguchi strains (> or = 40x), and anti-PT and anti-FHA antibodies (>10 EU/mL) were 81.3, 72.9, 43.8, and 68.8%, respectively. A high anti-PT antibody titer (>94 EU/mL) was found in 1 staff member, but this individual had no recent respiratory symptoms. The titers of the BA antibody against the Yamaguchi strain were weakly associated with the anti-PT antibody titers, but the BA antibody titer was not useful for predicting anti-PT antibody positivity. The seroprevalence of anti-pertussis antibody among medical staff was heterogeneous, suggesting that this group could be at high risk for pertussis. Judgments made using BA antibody or anti-PA antibody results differ, and thus careful evaluation of anti-pertussis antibody titers is necessary. Prompt and accurate diagnostic tools are crucial for infection control in the hospital setting.
authors.affiliation: Infection Control Team, Ryukyu University Hospital, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan. fhiga@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Futoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Higa
authors.forename: Syusaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haranaga
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tateyama
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hibiya
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamashiro
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamatsu
authors.forename: Takeaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomoyose
authors.forename: Masayoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagahama
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Owan
authors.forename: Tomoharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kuda
authors.forename: Fukunori
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kinjo
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D001886:Bordetella pertussis / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006388:Hemagglutinins / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital; D037342:Pertussis Toxin / Q000276:immunology; D014917:Whooping Cough / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D006388:Hemagglutinins; D037342:Pertussis Toxin