Update on pertussis in children

Abstract

Pertussis (or whooping cough) is a frequent and important infectious disease of the respiratory tract, mainly caused by the Gram-negative rod bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Although it is frequently believed that pertussis is exclusively a ‘childhood disease’, in reality it occurs at any age but is most serious in young infants. Adults are the main reservoir for B. pertussis today and pertussis remains an endemic disease worldwide despite the availability of comprehensive immunization programs that primarily target the pediatric population. There are many reasons for these, and these include incomplete immunity following natural infection as well as immunization and waning immunity over time. Manifestations of B. pertussis infections vary by magnitude of the bacterial inoculum, age, immune status and probably further yet unidentified individual factors. They can range from asymptomatic, apnea and uncharacteristic cough to typical coughing spells with posttussive phlegm and/or vomiting, and duration also varies between a few days and several months. Since antibacterial treatment of pertussis is generally ineffective as it usually sets in too late, the main focus should be on the prevention of pertussis by immunization. This apparently requires more than immunization of children – that is, expanding routine immunization into adolescence and adulthood.

Keywords::

• acellular
• Bordetella pertussis
• complication
• disease
• epidemiology
• pertussis
• prevention
• vaccine

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has been a member of the Global Pertussis Initiative and C.O.P.E (Consensus on Pertussis Booster Immunization in Europe), scientifically independent expert groups with financial support by Sanofi Pasteur MSD and GlaxoSmithKline. The author has received speaker’s honoraria for product-independent presentations at scientific and educational conferences related to several immunization topics, including pertussis vaccines from several pharmaceuticl companies including manufacturers of pertussis vaccines. The author has no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.