From Google Scholar & other sources: Selected Journal Articles, Newsletters, Dissertations, Theses, Commentary

Expert Review of Vaccines
Volume 13, Number 8 (August 2014)
http://informahealthcare.com/toc/erv/current
Special Focus: Pertussis – Review
Waning vaccine immunity in teenagers primed with whole cell and acellular pertussis vaccine: recent epidemiology
Posted online on August 5, 2014. (doi:10.1586/14760584.2014.944167)
Sarah L Sheridan1,2, Katie Frith3, Thomas L Snelling4,5, Keith Grimwood1,6, Peter B McIntyre7 and Stephen B Lambert *1,8
Abstract
The recent epidemics of pertussis (whooping cough) in parts of the USA and Australia have led to the largest numbers of annual cases reported in over half a century. These epidemics demonstrated a new pattern, with particularly high rates of disease among pre-adolescents and early adolescents. These high rates of pertussis coincided with the first cohorts vaccinated with purely acellular pertussis vaccine, which replaced whole-cell pertussis (wP) vaccine in the later 1990s in the USA and Australia. Studies undertaken during these epidemics provide new evidence of more rapid waning of acellular pertussis-containing vaccines and longer-term protection from effective wP-containing vaccines. There is evidence that receiving wP as at least the first dose of pertussis-containing vaccine provides greater and more long-lived protection, irrespective of the nature of subsequent doses. This evidence will be reviewed together with the immunobiology associated with both vaccines, and the implications for pertussis control discussed.

Special Focus Newsletters
RotaFlash (PATH)
August 4, 2014
Headline: Rotavirus technical experts meet to prioritize intussusception research agenda

Special Request Posting
Cell Host & Microbe
2014 Jun 11;15(6):729-40. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2014.05.009.
http://www.cell.com/cell-host-microbe/current
The classical lancefield antigen of group a Streptococcus is a virulence determinant with implications for vaccine design.
van Sorge NM1, Cole JN2, Kuipers K3, Henningham A2, Aziz RK4, Kasirer-Friede A5, Lin L3, Berends ET6, Davies MR7, Dougan G8, Zhang F9, Dahesh S3, Shaw L3, Gin J10, Cunningham M11, Merriman JA12, Hütter J13, Lepenies B13, Rooijakkers SH6, Malley R9, Walker MJ14, Shattil SJ5, Schlievert PM12, Choudhury B15, Nizet V16.
Author information
Abstract
Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is a leading cause of infection-related mortality in humans. All GAS serotypes express the Lancefield group A carbohydrate (GAC), comprising a polyrhamnose backbone with an immunodominant N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) side chain, which is the basis of rapid diagnostic tests. No biological function has been attributed to this conserved antigen. Here we identify and characterize the GAC biosynthesis genes, gacA through gacL. An isogenic mutant of the glycosyltransferase gacI, which is defective for GlcNAc side-chain addition, is attenuated for virulence in two infection models, in association with increased sensitivity to neutrophil killing, platelet-derived antimicrobials in serum, and the cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide LL-37. Antibodies to GAC lacking the GlcNAc side chain and containing only polyrhamnose promoted opsonophagocytic killing of multiple GAS serotypes and protected against systemic GAS challenge after passive immunization. Thus, the Lancefield antigen plays a functional role in GAS pathogenesis, and a deeper understanding of this unique polysaccharide has implications for vaccine development.