UNE’s Meghan May discusses pertussis in vaccinated children on 'WMTW'

Meghan May

Meghan May, Ph.D., associate professor of microbiology and infectious disease at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine, was recently interviewed by WMTW for a report on the rise of pertussis in Maine.

“Most people that are my age never got the disease when they were children,” she told WMTW. “We had never seen it and didn’t have any idea how terrifying and dangerous it was.”

Nearly 100 cases of pertussis have been reported in Maine so far this year. The Maine CDC is now monitoring the increasing number of cases very closely.

Maine is one of several states with cases of pertussis in children who are fully vaccinated. May and student Haley Etskovitz (COM, ’21) completed a study exploring reasons why that is happening.

When we are vaccinated, our immune system mounts a response targeted specifically to the components in that vaccine. May and Etskovitz found if there are a few bacteria present with a slightly different version of the protein pertactin, they become harder to kill. Over time, these strains with slightly different versions start spreading in the population and progress from being "harder to kill" to being "impossible to kill."

 

WMTW's Tyler Cadorette recently interviewed Meghan May in her lab
WMTW's Tyler Cadorette recently interviewed Meghan May in her lab

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.