title: Genetic Profile Variation in Vaccine Strains and Clinical Isolates of Bordetella pertussis Recovered from Iranian Patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Re-emergence of pertussis has been reported in Iran despite a high rate of vaccination coverage. Low efficacy of the vaccine might be due to the genetic divergence between clinical versus vaccine strains. In the current study, the genetic profiles of clinical isolates and vaccine strains of Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) were assessed by using Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Following phenotypic and molecular identification of isolates, XbaI-digested genomic DNA of 5 clinical isolates, 2 vaccine strains and a Tohama I strain were analyzed by PFGE along with B. parapertussis as a control.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven distinct PFGE profiles were found among all examined isolates/strains. In 5 clinical isolates, 4 profiles were identified whereas the vaccine strains displayed 2 distinct profiles. The reference strain, Tohama I had a distinct profile. Vaccine and clinical profiles had low similarity, with relatedness of approximately 40%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The genetic profiles of B. pertussis were different between circulating isolates and vaccine strains used in the national vaccination programs. Since new genetic profiles of B. pertussis can be disseminated periodically, the profiles of isolates circulating in the population should be monitored over the course of the re-emergence.
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Faezeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Haghighi
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology and Microbiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fereshteh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shahcheraghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacterial Vaccines, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Saeed
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Eshraghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hojjat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeraati
authors.affiliation: Department of Pulmonology, Hazrat Rasool Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed Ali Javad
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Mousavi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asgarian-Omran
authors.affiliation: Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Douraghi
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ; Monoclonal Antibody Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fazel
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shokri
keywords: Bordetella pertussis; PFGE profile; Vaccination; Whooping cough