Susceptibility to Vibrio cholerae Infection in a Cohort of Household Contacts of Patients with Cholera in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Despite recent progress in understanding the molecular basis of Vibrio cholerae pathogenesis, there is relatively little knowledge of the factors that determine the variability in human susceptibility to V. cholerae infection. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We performed an observational study of a cohort of household contacts of cholera patients in Bangladesh, and compared the baseline characteristics of household members who went on to develop culture-positive V. cholerae infection with individuals who did not develop infection. Although the vibriocidal antibody is the only previously described immunologic marker associated with protection from V. cholerae infection, we found that levels of serum IgA specific to three V. cholerae antigens-the B subunit of cholera toxin, lipopolysaccharide, and TcpA, the major component of the toxin-co-regulated…