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
Review
. 2015;11(1):108-17.
doi: 10.4161/hv.34364. Epub 2014 Nov 1.

Pertussis

Giovanni Gabutti  1 , Chiara Azzari, Paolo Bonanni, Rosa Prato, Alberto E Tozzi, Alessandro Zanetti, Gianvincenzo Zuccotti
Affiliations
Review

Pertussis

Giovanni Gabutti et al. Hum Vaccin Immunother. 2015.

Abstract

Pertussis continues to be an important public-health issue. The high immunization coverage rates achieved, mainly in industrialized countries, have certainly decreased the spread of the pathogen. However, as immunity wanes, adolescents and adults play an important role in the dynamics of the infection. The surveillance system has several limitations and the underestimation of pertussis in adolescents, young adults and adults is mainly related to the atypical clinical characteristics of cases and the lack of lab confirmation. The real epidemiological impact of pertussis is not always perceived. The unavailability of comprehensive data should not hamper the adoption of active prophylactic measures designed to avoid the impact of waning immunity against pertussis. Different immunization strategies have been suggested and/or already adopted such as immunization of newborns, pre-school and school children, adolescents, adults, healthcare workers, childcare workers, pregnant women, cocoon strategy. Prevention of pertussis requires an integrated approach and the adoption of different immunization strategies, with the objective of achieving and maintaining high coverage rates.

Keywords: epidemiology; immunization strategies; pertussis; prevention; vaccination.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Hewlett EL, Burns DL, Cotter PA, Harvill ET, Merkel TJ, Quinn CP, Stibitz ES.. Pertussis pathogenesis--what we know and what we don’t know. J Infect Dis 2014; 209:982 - 5; http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jit639; PMID: 24626533 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson RM, May RM. Infectious diseases of humans. 1st ed. Oxford, Oxford University Press; 1991
    1. Kretzschmar M, Teunis PFM, Pebody RG.. Incidence and reproduction numbers of pertussis: estimates from serological and social contact data in five European countries. PLoS Med 2010; 7:e1000291; http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1000291; PMID: 20585374 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. WHO.. Pertussis vaccines: WHO position paper. Wkly Epidemiol Rec 2010; 85:385 - 400; PMID: 20939150 - PubMed
    1. Tozzi AE, Celentano LP, Ciofi degli Atti ML, Salmaso S.. Diagnosis and management of pertussis. CMAJ 2005; 172:509 - 15; http://dx.doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1040766; PMID: 15710944 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources