Highly Purified (~99%). Bordetella pertussis causes whooping cough, a highly communicable disease which continues to be a public health concern despite high levels of vaccination with either whole-cell or acellular pertussis vaccines. In the last decade, a resurgence of pertussis. B. pertussis vaccine was first developed in 1920 using whole bacterium. In 1942, the whole-cell pertussis vaccine was combined with diphtheria and tetanus toxoids to generate the first DTP combination vaccine. Whole cell vaccines have some side effects. Acellular pertussis vaccines contain between one and five B. pertussis antigens: pertussis toxin (Ptx),filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA), pertactin (Prn), and fimbriae (Fim2 and Fim3). Many aspects of the pathogenesis of pertussis and vaccine correlates of protection are poorly understood. However, antibodies to Prn, Fim, and, to a lesser extent, Ptx appear to have a direct correlation with protection. Fimbriae have been considered important vaccine components f