Trinity College researchers claim to have developed 'groundbreaking' whooping cough vaccine

The innovation centres on a needle-free vaccine platform that works with mucus in the nose. This can induce lasting immunity directly at the infection site for patients, the research said.

A new “groundbreaking” whooping cough vaccine offers stronger protection and could potentially stop patients infecting other people, its Irish-based developers have said.

Rates of whooping cough infection across Europe have been rising to great alarm in the medical world. Last year alone there were almost 300,000 infections in Europe —  a three-fold increase on the year before —  the World Health Organisation warned.

This vaccine has been developed at Trinity College Dublin which described the discovery as “a groundbreaking new approach to vaccination”.

The innovation centres on a needle-free vaccine platform that works with mucus in the nose. This can induce lasting immunity directly at the infection site for patients, it said.

Professor Kingston Mills, co-lead on the project, said: “We’ve applied our understanding of protective immune pathways to engineer a fundamentally different kind of vaccine.

“By stimulating immunity where infections begin, at the respiratory mucosa, we can offer stronger protection and potentially interrupt community transmission.” 

The team showed this nasally-delivered, antibiotic-inactivated Bordetella pertussis (AIBP) vaccine has multiple effects. TCD said it “not only prevents severe disease but also curbs bacterial transmission”, and said this is “an achievement long sought by vaccine developers worldwide”.

The team, also including co-lead Dr Davoud Jazayeri of Trinity’s School of Biochemistry and Immunology, said the approach could transform whooping cough prevention.

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The scientists highlighted limitations to existing whooping cough vaccines.

“They protect infants from severe illness but fail to prevent bacterial colonization in the nose and throat, allowing continued spread within communities,” they said, pointing also to the rising rates of infection now being seen globally. 

It is also expected this platform could be used in a ‘plug and play’ approach against other pathogens including those causing tuberculosis or pneumonia.

The studies were funded through a Research Ireland Frontiers for the Future Award to Prof. Mills and are now advancing under the ARC Hub for Therapeutics.

The findings can be read in the journal Nature Microbiology.