Pertussis antibody levels in infants and their mothers receiving combined tetanus-diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis vaccine during pregnancy in Turkey

Abstract

Objective: Pertussis is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in infants under two months of age and these high risk babies are dependent on maternally derived antibodies until completion of their first immunization series. This study aimed to evaluate the vaccine response of late preterm and term new-borns as well as their mothers who underwent combined tetanus-diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertus-sis (Tdap) vaccination during pregnancy.