Pertussis Booster Dose Safe in Pediatric Patients With IBD

For pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a booster dose of pertussis vaccine was safe and immunogenic. Findings from the study are published in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases.

A team of Polish researchers conducted a multicenter, prospective, controlled trial that included 138 patients aged 11-18 years with no history of pertussis booster immunization after age 6 or history of pertussis. They aimed to compare the immunogenicity among pediatric patients with IBD vs healthy controls.

Study patients were grouped into 1 of the following: patients with IBD receiving no immunosuppressive therapy (Group 1), those on thiopurines only (Group 2), those on thiopurines and TNF-α agents (Group 3), and healthy controls (Group 4). The control group and patients were given 1 dose of pertussis vaccine via intramuscular injection and were asked to record adverse effects for 3 days post-vaccination. 

The study’s primary outcome measure was adequate vaccine response, defined as the concentration of anti-Bordetella pertussis antibodies >11 mcg/mL assessed between 4-8 weeks post-vaccination.

The data showed no difference in the rates of adequate vaccine response between the 4 study groups (P =.11). Patients with IBD taking immunosuppressive therapy did not differ from those not taking immunosuppressive therapy (90.6% vs 88.2%; P =.37). Moreover, there were no serious adverse effects related to vaccine administration.

Reference

Banaszkiewicz A, Gawronska A, Klincewicz B, et al. Immunogenicity of pertussis booster vaccination in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease: a controlled study. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2017; 23:847-852. doi: 10.1097/MIB.0000000000001076

This article originally appeared on MPR