Isotype and antigen specificity of pertussis agglutinins following whole-cell pertussis vaccination and infection with Bordetella pertussis.

Elevated agglutinin titers have been shown to correlate with protection from disease following whole-cell pertussis vaccination, but the isotype and antigen specificity of human agglutinating antibodies is unknown. In 13 immunoassays, immunoglobulin G antifimbria antibodies had the strongest correlation with agglutinin titers following culture-proven infection with Bordetella pertussis (R' = 0.79; P < 0.0001) and following whole-cell pertussis vaccination (R' = 0.87, P < 0.0001).