Sero-Epidemiological Study of <i>Bordetella pertussis</i> Infection in the Italian General Population

Abstract

A multicenter study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of pertussis IgG antibodies (anti-PTx) in the Italian population. Serum samples (4154) collected in the years 2019–2020 from subjects aged 6 to 90 years were tested. The anti-PTx IgG levels were determined by ELISA test. The limit of detection was 5 IU/mL (International Units per milliliter); values ≥ 40 IU/mL and ≥100 IU/mL indicate an infection that has occurred in recent years and a recent infection (occurred during the last year), respectively. The mean concentration of anti-PTx IgG antibodies in the tested samples was 13 IU/mL; 1.0% of subjects had a titer ≥ 100 IU/mL, 5.3% a titer between 40 and 100 IU/mL, and 38.9% a titer B. pertussis.

Keywords

• sero-epidemiology
• pertussis
• general population
• Italy