Prior immunization with an acellular pertussis vaccine suppresses protective immunity to a more effective vaccine

Acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines protect against pertussis disease but fail to induce tissue-resident memory (T RM ) cells that prevent nasal infection with Bordetella pertussis . Here, we demonstrate that boosting aP-immunized mice with a whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine impaired nasal clearance of B. pertussis . Instead of inducing Th1/Th17 T RM cells, the wP vaccine booster enhanced peripheral Th2 responses, suggesting that aP vaccination constrains protective immunity induced with a more effective booster vaccine.