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researchers are calling for a new whooping cough vaccine in the face of a rise of evolving strains that can evade vaccine-generated immunity. The bacteria of the highly contagious respiratory disease are becoming better at colonising hosts, whether they have been vaccinated or not.

Australia鈥檚 whooping cough epidemic from 2008 to 2012 saw more than 140,000 cases, with a peak of almost 40,000 in 2011. The current vaccine, widely used since 2000, targets three antigens in the bacteria, but UNSW research demonstrates that a new vaccine is needed to protect vulnerable members of the community from the emergence of superbug strains.

In a series of UNSW studies, with the latest published in , researchers found that the evolving strains made additional changes to better survive in their host, regardless of that person鈥檚 vaccination status. They also identified new antigens as potential vaccine targets.

First author and microbiologist Dr Laurence Luu, who led the team of researchers with Professor Ruiting Lan, said whooping cough鈥檚 ability to adapt to vaccines and survival in humans might be the answer to its surprise resurgence despite Australia鈥檚 high vaccination rates.

鈥淲e found the whooping cough strains were evolving to improve their survival, regardless of whether a person was vaccinated or not, by producing more nutrient-binding and transport proteins, and fewer immunogenic proteins which are not targeted by the vaccine,鈥� Dr Luu said.

鈥淭his allows whooping cough bacteria to more efficiently scavenge nutrients from the host during infection, as well as to evade the body鈥檚 natural immune system because the bacteria are making fewer proteins that our body recognises.

鈥淧ut simply, the bacteria that cause whooping cough are becoming better at hiding and better at feeding 鈥� they鈥檙e morphing into a superbug.鈥�

Dr Luu said it was possible for a vaccinated person to contract whooping cough bacteria without symptoms materialising.

鈥淪o, the bacteria might still colonise you and survive without causing the disease 鈥� you probably wouldn鈥檛 know you鈥檝e been infected with the whooping cough bacteria because you don鈥檛 get the symptoms,鈥� he said.

鈥淎nother issue with the vaccine is that immunity wanes quickly 鈥� so, we do need a new vaccine that can better protect against the evolving strains, stop the transmission of the disease and provide longer lasting immunity.鈥�

Professor Lan said that although he would like to see a new vaccine developed and introduced in the next five to 10 years, the research team鈥檚 important discovery did not render Australia鈥檚 whooping cough vaccine redundant.

鈥淚t is critical that people are vaccinated to prevent the spread of whooping cough 鈥� the current vaccine is still effective for protecting against the disease 鈥� but new vaccines need to be developed in the long term,鈥� Professor Lan said.

鈥淲e need more research to better understand the biology of the whooping cough bacteria, how they cause disease and what proteins are essential for the bacteria to cause infection, so that we can target these proteins in a new and improved vaccine.

鈥淭his will all help to futureproof new vaccines against the evolving whooping cough strains.鈥�

Dr Luu agreed it was crucial that Australia maintained its high vaccination coverage for whooping cough.

鈥淎lthough the number of whooping cough cases has increased during the past decade, it鈥檚 still nowhere near as high as what it was before the introduction of whooping cough vaccines,鈥� Dr Luu said.

鈥淭herefore, we emphasise that Australia must maintain its high vaccination coverage to protect vulnerable newborns who are not protected by maternal immunity and cannot complete the three-dose primary vaccine course until they are six months old.

鈥淪o, vaccination is especially important for children, people who are in contact with children and pregnant women who need the vaccine to produce antibodies to protect their newborns from developing whooping cough in the first few weeks of life.鈥�

In addition to babies under six months having a high risk of catching the disease, the elderly, people living with someone who has whooping cough and people who have not had a booster in the past 10 years are also at risk.

Image credit:聽漏stock.adobe.com/au/Kateryna_Kon