2021 Volume 36 Issue 3 Pages 149-156
At our hospital, we performed DPT vaccination for healthcare workers and measured the titer of anti-pertussis toxin antibodies before and after vaccination and in the long-term post-vaccination course. These results were used to determine the appropriate timing for booster inoculation based on the time at which the antibody titer decreases.
The prevalence of anti-pertussis toxin antibodies in the healthcare workers was 64.4% (67/104 people) before DPT vaccination. The antibody titer significantly increased 4 weeks after DPT vaccination and then decreased over the years after vaccination. After 6 years, 100% (7/7 people) of the healthcare workers still had antibodies, but this rate decreased to 68.5% (24/35 people) at 7 years after vaccination. Therefore, we concluded that monitoring of the antibody titer and booster inoculation as needed are required for healthcare workers at 7 years after DPT vaccination at our hospital. However, the timing of the decrease of the antibody titer and the booster inoculation may differ depending on the level of pertussis toxin and the medical and economic situations in different countries and regions. Therefore, the timing of the booster inoculation should also be based on the local disease level in Japan and overseas.
