Pertussis: Identification, Prevention and Control

Abstract

Pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease. Despite the high vaccination coverage among children, pertussis is considered a re-emerging disease for which identification, prevention and control strategies need to be improved. To control pertussis it is important to maintain a high vaccination coverage to protect the age groups considered at high risk for the disease. Laboratory confirmation of Bordetella pertussis infection together with a differential diagnostic test for other Bordetellae are prerequisite for a correct and timely diagnosis of pertussis. Moreover, investigations of antimicrobial susceptibility and whole genome sequencing may permit to monitor the circulation of antimicrobials resistant and/or vaccine-escape strains. Finally, the preventive framework should no longer consider pertussis exclusively as a childhood infectious disease, since adults may play a role in transmission events.

Keywords: Bordetella pertussis; Surveillance system; Vaccination; Vaccine; Whole genome sequencing.