Acellular pertussis vaccines in infants: evaluation of single component and two-component products.

Two acellular pertussis vaccines, one containing only LPF toxoid (25 micrograms) and the other containing LPF toxoid (25 micrograms) and FHA (25 micrograms) and each combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids, were evaluated in two groups of 25 infants. A third group of 25 infants served as controls and received a DTP whole-cell pertussis vaccine. Infants given either acellular pertussis vaccine had significantly fewer local and systemic reactions than infants given whole-cell vaccine. Among the three vaccine groups, infants given the LPF vaccine (single component) had the highest concentration of antibody to LPF after three immunizations. Infants receiving the LPF/FHA vaccine (two-component) had the highest concentration of antibody to FHA after three immunizations. Infants vaccinated with the two-component vaccine had a significantly lower serological response to LPF than infants given the single component vaccine, as measured by either enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or CHO cell assay. Further studies are necessary to determine why differences in immunogenicity of the two investigational vaccines occurred.