Prevalence of Pertussis Antibodies in Maternal Blood, Cord Serum, and Infants From Mothers With and Those Without Tdap Booster Vaccination During Pregnancy in Argentina

Fil: Fallo, Aurelia A. Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Hospital de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez," University of Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: Neyro, Silvina E. Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Hospital de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez," University of Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: Manonelles, Gabriela V. Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Hospital de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez," University of Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: Lara, Claudia. Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán” (ANLIS); Argentina.Fil: Hozbor, Daniela. Laboratorio VacSal, Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología Molecular (IBBM), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, CCT-CONICET; Argentina.Fil: Zintgraff, Jonathan. Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán” (ANLIS); Argentina.Fil: Mazzeo, Silvina. Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital D. F. Santojanni, Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: Davison, Héctor E. Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital D. F. Santojanni, Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: González, Susana. Pediatrics, Hospital D. F. Santojanni, Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: Zapulla, Estella. Pediatrics, Hospital D. F. Santojanni, Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Canle, Oscar. Blood Center, Hospital de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez," Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Huespe, Miguel. Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hospital D. F. Santojanni, Buenos Aires; Argentina.Fil: Galas, Marcelo. Administración Nacional de Laboratorios e Institutos de Salud “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán” (ANLIS); Argentina.Fil: López, Eduardo L. Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, School of Medicine, Hospital de Niños "Ricardo Gutiérrez," University of Buenos Aires; Argentina.Morbidity and mortality rates for pertussis in infants are high because disease often occurs before the onset of routine immunization or in those who do not complete a primary immunization series. Pertussis immunization is recommended during pregnancy to achieve antibody levels sufficient to protect young infants. To our knowledge, no previous reports of maternal pertussis immunization results in Latin America exist in the literature

Estimating the health economic impact of the universal varicella vaccination in Argentina from 2015 to 2019

Since the introduction of Universal Varicella Vaccination (UVV) in the Argentinean National Immunization Program in 2015, a significant decline in the incidence of varicella has been reported. This study aimed to estimate the economic impact of single-dose UVV in Argentina from 2015 to 2019. The economic impact was assessed based on the observed incidence of varicella in the post-UVV period and the number of cases avoided, obtained from a previously published study that used an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model. The weighted average cost per case was calculated using local studies. The post-UVV cost reductions were calculated by multiplying the number of cases avoided from 2015 –2019 by the weighted average cost per case. Data were summarized yearly and by peak (September−November) periods for the target (1−4 years) and overall populations. We estimated avoided costs of United States dollars (USD) $65 million in the target population and$112 million in the overall population over 4 years following UVV introduction. We observed a trend toward greater reductions in costs over time, with substantial differences observed in peak periods. We estimated that the single-dose UVV program considerably reduced the economic burden of varicella in Argentina by avoiding direct and indirect costs associated with varicella management

Meningococcal burden of disease in Argentina: 10 years epidemiologic review

Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is an uncommon but serious and potentially fatal condition, mainly affecting infants. In 2017, Argentina introduced a vaccination program against serogroups A, C, W and Y (MenACWY) for infants aged 3, 5 and 15 months and adolescents aged 11 years. The objective of this study was to review the burden of IMD in Argentina in 2010–2019. Data were obtained from national surveillance databases, and the study estimated IMD incidence, mortality, case-fatality rates, and serogroup distributions across age groups. A total of 1,972 IMD cases were reported in the study period, with the highest incidence in infants aged < 1 year. Incidence peaked in 2013 and subsequently declined. Mortality rates were 18 times higher in infants than in other age groups, reflecting the high impact of IMD in this age group. The case-fatality rate was 8.5% on average and increased with age. The proportion of notified cases with serogroup identification increased over the period, reaching 91% in 2019. The most common serogroups over the study period were serogroup B (48%) and serogroup W (42%), with an increase in B relative to W since 2015. In infants aged < 1 year, the proportion of serogroup B increased in recent years, reaching around 70% of characterized cases in 2018–2019. These results show the dynamism of IMD and indicate the importance of vaccination at an early age and offering protection against predominant serogroups. These data are valuable to support evidence-based decision-making in healthcare

Prevalence of Pertussis Antibodies in Maternal Blood, Cord Serum, and Infants From Mothers With and Those Without Tdap Booster Vaccination During Pregnancy in Argentina

Background Morbidity and mortality rates for pertussis in infants are high because disease often occurs before the onset of routine immunization or in those who do not complete a primary immunization series. Pertussis immunization is recommended during pregnancy to achieve antibody levels sufficient to protect young infants. To our knowledge, no previous reports of maternal pertussis immunization results in Latin America exist in the literature. Methods This study compared pertussis antibody levels in newborns from mothers who received or did not receive a tetanus-diphtheria-acellular pertussis vaccination (TdapV) during pregnancy. Each mother's level of immunoglobulin G antibodies against pertussis toxin (IgG-PT) was measured with a validated, specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results Paired mother and cord serum samples were compared in 105 mothers with and 99 mothers without a TdapV. At birth, the mothers with and those without a TdapV had serum IgG-PT geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) of 35.1 and 9.8 ELISA units (EU)/mL, respectively (P < .0001); cord blood GMCs were 51.3 and 11.6 EU/mL, respectively (P < .0003); and cord blood IgG-PT levels were <5 EU/mL in 2.9% and 16.1% of the cord blood samples, respectively (P < .001). The mothers received their TdapV at a mean (± standard deviation [SD]) of 24.7 ± 4.8 weeks' gestation. Vaccination timing did not affect the IgG-PT GMC at birth. Placental antibody transference efficiencies (measured as the ratio of the cord blood GMC to the maternal GMC) were 1.46 and 1.18 for mothers with and those without a TdapV, respectively. The IgG-PT GMCs were 17.7 EU/mL in 36 infants in their first month of life and 11.6 EU/mL in 32 infants in their second month of life. Conclusions Women who received a TdapV during pregnancy had significantly a higher serum/cord IgG-PT concentration at birth than mothers who did not receive a TdapV. Timing of the immunization was not correlated with antibody concentrations. Infants born to immunized mothers had significantly higher antibody levels during their first 2 months of life.Instituto de Biotecnología y Biología MolecularConsejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnica