GSD Alerts Clinical Laboratories to Prepare for Continued “Whooping Cough” Outbreaks

As Bordetella pertussis outbreaks continue across the United States, clinical laboratories must be vigilantly prepared to mount a rapid and intelligent response to a suspected outbreak. Gold Standard Diagnostics offers a powerful suite of B. Pertussis antibody testing that empowers clinicians to contain an outbreak as quickly as possible.

Early symptoms resemble those of common respiratory ailments. Patients often do not seek medical treatment during early stages, and this delay vastly reduces the effectiveness of traditional diagnostic culture techniques.

Gold Standard Diagnostics’ ELISA tests for B. pertussis and pertussis toxin antibodies allow a diagnosis to be made even if the patient does not seek treatment during early stages. Antibody testing provides accurate diagnosis at any disease stage. Even many weeks after initial infection, determining the levels of IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies present in the blood can determine if the patient has had a recent infection. Additionally, antibody testing can also verify immunity after vaccination. Given that many patients cannot be accurately assessed using the traditional culture methods, every laboratory should be prepared by having antibody testing capability.

Data about recent infection and immunity serve a critical role in determining the best response for both the individual patient and the locally affected populations. Accurate diagnosis allows medical professionals to actively contain a minor outbreak before it becomes a local or regional epidemic.

The B. pertussis vaccine is widely administered to infants in the United States, but its effectiveness usually diminishes by adolescence. Without a booster immunization, most adults are prone to infection. Infants and children who have not received the vaccination due to age or other reasons are also at high risk. As demonstrated by multiple outbreaks in recent years, this combination of factors makes B. pertussis a priority for all diagnostic laboratories.