Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1999 Jul;6(4):534-6.
doi: 10.1128/CDLI.6.4.534-536.1999.

Outcomes of Bordetella infections in vaccinated children: effects of bacterial number in the nasopharynx and patient age

Q He  1 , H Arvilommi, M K Viljanen, J Mertsola
Affiliations

Outcomes of Bordetella infections in vaccinated children: effects of bacterial number in the nasopharynx and patient age

Q He et al. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 1999 Jul.

Abstract

Five outbreaks of infection (three pertussis, one parapertussis, and one mixed) in schools were studied prospectively. Nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from a total of 697 children for culture of Bordetella organisms. Of 50 vaccinated children with culture-confirmed Bordetella infections (29 with pertussis and 21 parapertussis), 40 were symptomatic and 10 remained symptom-free. Smaller numbers of colonies were recovered from the nasopharyngeal swabs of the asymptomatic children than from those of the symptomatic children. Older children had longer durations of illness than younger ones. Our results indicate that during outbreaks children who do not develop disease may have small amounts of Bordetella organisms in their nasopharynges and/or better immune defenses against the disease.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1
FIG. 1
Mean colony numbers for Bordetella organisms recovered from the nasopharyngeal swabs of children with asymptomatic and symptomatic infections.
FIG. 2
FIG. 2
Duration of illness and age of children (n = 40) with Bordetella infections during school outbreaks. The oblique line is a regression line.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ad Hoc Group for the Study of Pertussis Vaccines. Placebo-controlled trial of two acellular pertussis vaccines in Sweden: protective efficacy and adverse events. Lancet. 1988;i:955–960. - PubMed
    1. Black S. Epidemiology of pertussis. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1997;16:S85–S89. - PubMed
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reported vaccine-preventable diseases: United States, 1993, and the Childhood Immunization Initiative. Morbid Mortal Weekly Rep. 1994;43:57–60. - PubMed
    1. Fine P E M, Clarkson J A. Reflections on the efficacy of pertussis vaccines. Rev Infect Dis. 1987;9:866–883. - PubMed
    1. Gilchrist M J R. Bordetella. In: Balows A, Hausler W J Jr, Herrmann K L, Isenberg H D, Shadomy H J, editors. Manual of clinical microbiology. 5th ed. Washington, D.C: American Society for Microbiology; 1991. pp. 471–477.

Publication types