Pertussis in Argentina and France

We have studied the epidemiology of pertussis in two countries, Argentina and France, which have similar histories of long-term mass vaccination with a whole-cell vaccine. Both countries display a comparable epidemiology, with an increase of the incidence of the disease in non-vaccinated newborns. We used pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis and genotyping to compare Bordetella pertussis clinical isolates recovered in Argentina and France in 2001–2004. The majority of the isolates harbors prn2 allele and belongs to PFGE IVβ group. Isolates were found to be very similar genetically suggesting a common evolution of the disease in these two countries using the same vaccine.