This book provides a comprehensive overview of pertussis - also known as whooping cough. The first part discusses the evolution the genus Bordetellae and the molecular epidemiology of B. pertussis, while the following chapters focus on the role of B. pertussis virulence factors in infection and disease and on the mechanisms of the immune response to infection and vaccination. The book also explores the prevention and control of the disease as well as its clinical management, with the finally section addressing vaccination, from improved immunization strategies to novel vaccines. Pertussis remains one of the most poorly controlled vaccine-preventable diseases around the globe. Universal vaccination has dramatically reduced its incidence but has failed to bring it completely under control. In recent decades, changes in pertussis epidemiology have been noted, likely related to the use of acellular pertussis vaccines, which in many countries have replaced older-generation, whole-cell pertussis vaccines. Several years after their introduction, it is becoming apparent that immunity conferred by acellular vaccines wanes more rapidly than expected. Unlike whole-cell vaccines, acellular vaccines, while protecting against the disease, do not seem to prevent colonization and transmission. Increasing incidence among adolescents and adults makes them a reservoir for transmission to unimmunized infants, who in turn are at risk of severe disease and death. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and clinicians in the field of medical microbiology, vaccine research and infectious diseases.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of pertussis - also known as whooping cough. The first part discusses the evolution the genus Bordetellae and the molecular epidemiology of B. pertussis, while the following chapters focus on the role of B. pertussis virulence factors in infection and disease and on the mechanisms of the immune response to infection and vaccination. The book also explores the prevention and control of the disease as well as its clinical management, with the finally section addressing vaccination, from improved immunization strategies to novel vaccines. Pertussis remains one of the most poorly controlled vaccine-preventable diseases around the globe. Universal vaccination has dramatically reduced its incidence but has failed to bring it completely under control. In recent decades, changes in pertussis epidemiology have been noted, likely related to the use of acellular pertussis vaccines, which in many countries have replaced older-generation, whole-cell pertussis vaccines. Several years after their introduction, it is becoming apparent that immunity conferred by acellular vaccines wanes more rapidly than expected. Unlike whole-cell vaccines, acellular vaccines, while protecting against the disease, do not seem to prevent colonization and transmission. Increasing incidence among adolescents and adults makes them a reservoir for transmission to unimmunized infants, who in turn are at risk of severe disease and death. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and clinicians in the field of medical microbiology, vaccine research and infectious diseases.

Il testo e la riproduzione della tesi di laurea di GIORGIO FEDEL, nella quale si narrano le vicende del comandante partigiano Libero Riccardi (nome di battaglia di Riccardo Fedel). I contenuti della Tesi (e piu in generale i primi risultati delle ricerche condotte dalla Fondazione Comandante Libero negli otto anni precedenti in alcuni degli archivi "inesplorati") furono resi pubblici nell'aprile del 2009, ad un convegno appositamente organizzato dall'Istituto Parri di Bologna, diretto da Luca Alessandrini. Essendo trascorsi alcuni anni dalla sua redazione, alcune delle ipotesi formulate nel testo sono state di recente superate da ulteriori scoperte, ma gli interrogativi posti e gran parte dell'impianto di fondo restano attuali, soprattutto in relazione alla questione della distruzione delle fonti documentali precedenti l'aprile 1944 e all'opera di damnatio memoriae del Comandante Libero (Riccardo Fedel) condotta da alcuni "soggetti interessati" dal dopogurerra in avanti."