title: Booster vaccination: the role of reduced antigen content vaccines as a preschool booster.
abstract: The need for boosters for tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, and polio, starting from preschool age, is related to the waning immune protection conferred by vaccination, the elimination/reduction of natural boosters due to large-scale immunization programs, and the possibility of reintroduction of wild agents from endemic areas. Taking into account the relevance of safety/tolerability in the compliance with vaccination among the population, it have been assessed whether today enough scientific evidences are available to support the use of dTap-IPV booster in preschool age. The review of the literature was conducted using the PubMed search engine. A total of 41 works has been selected; besides, the documentation produced by the World Health Organization, the European Centre for Disease Control, and the Italian Ministry of Health has been consulted. Many recent papers confirm the opportunity to use a low antigenic dose vaccine starting from 4 to 6 years of age. There is also evidence that 10 years after immunization the rate of seroprotected subjects against diphtheria does not differ significantly between those vaccinated with paediatric dose (DTaP) or reduced dose (dTaP or dTap) product. The dTpa vaccine is highly immunogenic for diphtheria toxoids regardless of prior vaccination history (2 + 1 and 3 + 1 schedules).
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention, O.U. Hygiene and Public Health, LHU 4 "Chiavarese"-Liguria Region, Corso Dante 163, Chiavari, 16043 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7259-4923
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gabutti
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Genova, Via Pastore 1, 16132 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4633-202X
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trucchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention, LHU Taranto, Viale Virgilio 31, 74100 Taranto, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Conversano
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention, LHU 20 Verona, Via Salvo d'Acquisto 7, 37122 Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Giambattista
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zivelonghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention, O.U. Hygiene and Public Health, LHU 4 "Chiavarese"-Liguria Region, Corso Dante 163, Chiavari, 16043 Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zoppi
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D015721:Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D015721:Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis Vaccine