Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter to the Editor
  • Published:

Bordetella pertussis respiratory infection following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: time for universal vaccination?

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 38, pages 639–640 (2006)Cite this article

Respiratory disease due to Bordetella pertussis has been recognized to be endemic in adolescent and adult ages, leading to the implementation of a booster vaccine for adolescents.1, 2, 3, 4 The impact of B. pertussis on patients following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is unknown, and current guidelines do not include a universal recommendation for vaccination.5, 6 Here, we report the mitigated clinical course of B. pertussis respiratory disease in an adolescent following allogeneic HSCT that may serve to underscore the presence of pertussis and the rationale for vaccination in this special population.

The patient was a 16-year-old, otherwise healthy male adolescent with acute B-lymphoblastic leukemia, who had received a matched related bone marrow transplantation in second complete remission following standard conditioning with total body irradiation plus etoposide. In the absence of graft-vs-host disease and other relevant medical problems, immunosuppressive therapy with cyclosporin A was tapered and discontinued around day +100. Comprehensive clinical and haematological follow-up examinations on days +100, +180 and +360 post-transplantation were unremarkable. At the last of these visits, all supportive care medication was discontinued and reimmunization initiated (including Hemophilus influenzae type b- (Hib), Hepatitis B- (HBV), diphtheria- (d), tetanus toxoid- (T), inactivated poliovirus- (IPV), 3-valent pneumococcal and influenzae vaccines).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1

References

  1. Hewlett EL, Edwards KM . Pertussis – not just for kids. New Engl J Med 2005; 352: 1215–1222.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Forsyth KD, Campins-Marti M, Caro J, Cherry JD, Greenberg D, Guiso N et al. New pertussis vaccination strategies beyond infancy: recommendations by the global pertussis initiative. Clin Infect Dis 2004; 39: 1802–1809.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Greenberg DP . Pertussis in adolescents: increasing incidence brings attention to the need for booster immunization of adolescents. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2005; 24: 721–728.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. American Academy of Pediatrics. Prevention of pertussis among adolescents: recommendations for use of tetanus-toxoid, diphteria-toxoid, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine. Available at: http://www.AAP.org, accessed 30 June 2005.

  5. Centers for Disease Control Prevention. Guidelines for preventing opportunistic infections among hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients: recommendations of CDC, the Infectious Disease Society of America, and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2000; 49: 1–128.

  6. Ljungman P, Engelhard D, de la Camara R, Einsele H, Locasciulli A, Martino R et al. Vaccination of stem cell transplant recipients: recommendations of the infectious disease working party of the EBMT. Bone Marrow Transplant 2005; 35: 737–746.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Suzuki N, Mizue N, Hori T, Hatakeyama N, Kudoh T, Tsutsumi H . Pertussis in adolescence after unrelated cord blood transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 2003; 32: 967.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Kochethu G, Clark FJ, Craddock CF . Pertussis: should we vaccinate post transplant? Bone Marrow Transplant 2006; 37: 793–794.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hoppe JE, Halm U, Hagedorn HJ, Kraminer-Hagedorn A . Comparison of erythromycin ethylsuccinate and co-trimoxazole for treatment of pertussis. Infection 1989; 17: 227–231.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Cherry JD, Heininger U . Pertussis and other Bordetella infections. In: Feigin RD, Cherry JD, Demmler GJ, Kaplan SL (eds). Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 5th edn. WB Saunders: Philadelphia, PA, 2004, pp 1588–1608.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ljungman P, Cordonnier C, De Bock R, Einsele H, Engelhardt D, Grundy J et al. Immunizations after bone marrow transplantation: results of a European survey and recommendations from the infectious diseases working party of the European group for blood and marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant 1995; 15: 455–460.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Henning KJ, White MH, Sepkowitz KA, Armstrong D . A national survey of immunization practices following allogeneic bone marrow transplantation. JAMA 1997; 277: 1148–1151.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Bone Marrow Transplantation and Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Infectious Disease Research Program, University Childrens Hospital, Muenster, Federal Republic of Germany

    A Florax, K Ehlert, J Vormoor & A H Groll

  2. Institute of Medical Microbiology, University Hospital of Muenster, Muenster, Federal Republic of Germany

    K Becker

Authors
  1. A Florax
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. K Ehlert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. K Becker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. J Vormoor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A H Groll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to A H Groll.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Florax, A., Ehlert, K., Becker, K. et al. Bordetella pertussis respiratory infection following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation: time for universal vaccination?. Bone Marrow Transplant 38, 639–640 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705495

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bmt.1705495

Search

Advanced search

Quick links