EUVAC.NET collaborative study: Evaluation and standardisation of serology for diagnosis of pertussis

Seroprevalence of antibodies against measles, rubella, mumps, varicella-zoster, andB. Pertussisin young adults of Madrid, Spain

“…In reference to this point, our study has limitations: the ELISA test we used has good sensitivity 39 but, compared with those that only use purified pertussis toxin as antigen, this test is not linearly correlated with WHO standards, making it difficult to quantify antibody titers and therefore difficult to identify recently infected subjects 39,40 who would exhibit higher IgG titers. Beginning in 2011, there were a significant number of cases among adolescents 13 due to different pertussis outbreaks in Madrid and, consistent with vaccination strategies followed by other countries around us, 41 a sixth dose of acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap) at 14 y of age was introduced into the childhood immunisation schedule in Madrid.…”

High heterogeneity in methods used for the laboratory confirmation of pertussis diagnosis among European countries, 2010: integration of epidemiological and laboratory surveillance must include standardisation of methodologies and quality assurance

“…In terms of serological tests, those detecting IgG antibodies to purified pertussis toxin (PT) are the most specific for B. Pertussis, so PT is recommended as a coating antigen in both in house ELISA and commercial kits [21][22][23].…”

Comparative Study of Different Sources of Pertussis Toxin (PT) as Coating Antigens in IgG Anti-PT Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays

“…Immunoassays to detect antibody to B. pertussis antigens, especially PT, are used by many laboratories worldwide either for diagnosis or to evaluate immune responses to vaccines (1,10,12,14,17,19,21,23,28,29). Thus, accurate and precise assays are needed.…”

“…Thus, there was some heterogeneity in the selected coating concentrations; however, these differences appeared to be minor and method specific. Variables that may have impacted the selection of coating concentration include general difference in the assay methodologies, choice of microtiter plates, buffer compositions, coating conditions (Table 2), and the method used to determine the optimal coating concentration (29).…”

“…The antigens used for coating in immunoassays were identified as critical reagents, and one outstanding question for the IgG anti-PT assay was whether the source of the PT would influence results. In previously conducted collaborative studies (13,14,17,25,29), each participating laboratory used their own in-house procedures and reagents. These studies suggested that the source of PT coating antigen did not have a major influence on the results.…”