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. 2023 Feb 21;12(5):1732.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12051732.

Assessment of Pertussis Underreporting in Italy

Francesco Bagordo  1 , Tiziana Grassi  2 , Marta Savio  3 , Maria Cristina Rota  4 , Tatjana Baldovin  5 , Costanza Vicentini  6 , Francesco Napolitano  7 , Claudia Maria Trombetta  8 , Giovanni Gabutti  9 , Seroepidemiological Study Group
Affiliations

Assessment of Pertussis Underreporting in Italy

Francesco Bagordo et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the degree of pertussis underreporting in Italy. An analysis was performed to compare the frequency of pertussis infections estimated using seroprevalence data with the pertussis incidence based on reported cases among the Italian population. For this purpose, the proportion of subjects who had an anti-PT ≥ 100 IU/mL (indicative of B. pertussis infection within the last 12 months) was compared with the reported incidence rate among the Italian population ≥5 years old, divided into two age groups (6-14 and ≥15 years old), obtained from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) database. The pertussis incidence rate in the Italian population ≥5 years old reported by the ECDC in 2018 was 6.75/100,000 in the 5-14 age group and 0.28/100,000 in the ≥15 age group. The proportion of subjects recruited in the present study with an anti-PT ≥ 100 IU/mL was 0.95% in the 6-14 age group and 0.97% in the ≥15 age group. The estimated rate of pertussis infections based on seroprevalence was approximately 141-fold and 3452-fold higher than the reported incidence in the 6-14 age group and in the ≥15 age group, respectively. Quantification of underreporting can allow for the burden of pertussis, as well as the impact of ongoing vaccination, to be better evaluated.

Keywords: pertussis; seroprevalence; underreporting.

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Conflict of interest statement

G.G. reports having received personal fees for advisory board membership and consultancy from Emergent BioSolutions, the GSK group of companies, Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur Italy, Moderna, and Seqirus, as well as personal fees for lectures from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Pfizer, and Seqirus, outside the submitted work. F.B., T.G., M.S., M.C.R., T.B., C.V., F.N., and C.M.T. declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Immunization coverage for diphtheria, tetanus toxoid, and pertussis (DTP/DTaP)) vaccination coverage and incidence for pertussis in Italy from 1980 to 2021. Data source: WHO.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Rate of subjects with anti-PTx > 100 IU/mL in different age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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