PEDIATRICS Vol. 97 No. 5 May 1996, pp. 607-612
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Wortis, N.
Right arrow Articles by Hardy, I. R. B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Wortis, N.
Right arrow Articles by Hardy, I. R. B.

Pertussis Deaths: Report of 23 Cases in the United States, 1992 and 1993

Naomi Wortis MD1, Peter M. Strebel MBChB, MPH1, Melinda Wharton MD, MPH1, Barbara Bardenheier MPH1, and Iain R. B. Hardy MBChB, MPH1

1 National Immunization Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Objective. To characterize pertussis deaths and to identify possible risk factors and prevention strategies.

Methods. A retrospective review of all deaths attributed to pertussis with disease onset during 1992 and 1993 reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospital discharge summaries and autopsy reports were reviewed, and additional clinical information was provided by physicians involved in the care of the children.

Results. During 1992 and 1993, 23 deaths attributed to pertussis were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cultures for Bordetella pertussis were positive in 18 (90%) of the 20 cases in which it was performed. Twenty (87%) of the 23 children who died were younger than 1 year of age, and 18 (78%) of the children had received no doses of pertussis vaccine. Among 20 children for whom gestational ages were known, 12 (60%) were born at 36 weeks' gestation or earlier; in contrast, 10.7% of live births in the United States in 1992 were at 36 weeks' gestation or earlier. The median age of mothers whose children had fatal pertussis was 20 (range, 14 to 37) years in the 15 cases in which ages were known, compared with the national median age of 26.3 years in 1992. Pneumonia was a complication in all but 1 (96%) of the cases. Seizures occurred in 4 cases (17%), and acute encephalopathy occurred in 3 cases (13%).

Conclusions. Pertussis continues to cause serious illness and death in the United States, particularly among infants who are not vaccinated. Preterm delivery and young maternal age may place infants at increased risk of death because of pertussis. Under the current pertussis vaccination schedule, three fourths of the infants who died were too young to have received three doses of pertussis vaccine, the minimum number of doses considered necessary for adequate protection against clinical pertussis. Additional strategies to prevent deaths caused by pertussis in young infants, such as starting infant vaccination at an earlier age and booster doses to adolescents and adults, need to be evaluated.

Submitted on May 3, 1995
Accepted on August 2, 1995




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Arch. Dis. Child.Home page
J. Surridge, E. R Segedin, and C. C Grant
Pertussis requiring intensive care
Arch. Dis. Child., November 1, 2007; 92(11): 970 - 975.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
F. Omenaca, J. Garcia-Sicilia, P. Garcia-Corbeira, R. Boceta, and V. Torres
Antipolyribosyl Ribitol Phosphate Response of Premature Infants to Primary and Booster Vaccination With a Combined Diphtheria-Tetanus-Acellular Pertussis-Hepatitis B-Inactivated Polio Virus/Haemophilus influenzae Type b Vaccine
Pediatrics, January 1, 2007; 119(1): e179 - e185.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
F. Omenaca, J. Garcia-Sicilia, P. Garcia-Corbeira, R. Boceta, A. Romero, G. Lopez, and R. Dal-Re
Response of Preterm Newborns to Immunization With a Hexavalent Diphtheria-Tetanus-Acellular Pertussis-Hepatitis B Virus-Inactivated Polio and Haemophilus influenzae Type b Vaccine: First Experiences and Solutions to a Serious and Sensitive Issue
Pediatrics, December 1, 2005; 116(6): 1292 - 1298.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 CMAJHome page
A. E. Tozzi, L. Pastore Celentano, M. L. Ciofi degli Atti, and S. Salmaso
Diagnosis and management of pertussis
Can. Med. Assoc. J., February 15, 2005; 172(4): 509 - 515.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
N. B. Halasa, F. E. Barr, J. E. Johnson, and K. M. Edwards
Fatal Pulmonary Hypertension Associated With Pertussis in Infants: Does Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Have a Role?
Pediatrics, December 1, 2003; 112(6): 1274 - 1278.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
N. Le Saux, N. J. Barrowman, D. L. Moore, S. Whiting, D. Scheifele, S. Halperin, and for Members of the Canadian Paediatric Society/ He
Decrease in Hospital Admissions for Febrile Seizures and Reports of Hypotonic-Hyporesponsive Episodes Presenting to Hospital Emergency Departments Since Switching to Acellular Pertussis Vaccine in Canada: A Report From IMPACT
Pediatrics, November 1, 2003; 112(5): e348 - 348.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
C. Belloni, A. D. Silvestri, C. Tinelli, M. A. Avanzini, M. Marconi, F. Strano, G. Rondini, and G. Chirico
Immunogenicity of a Three-Component Acellular Pertussis Vaccine Administered at Birth
Pediatrics, May 1, 2003; 111(5): 1042 - 1045.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Infect. Immun.Home page
C. Roduit, P. Bozzotti, N. Mielcarek, P.-H. Lambert, G. del Giudice, C. Locht, and C.-A. Siegrist
Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of Neonatal Vaccination against Bordetella pertussis in a Murine Model: Evidence for Early Control of Pertussis
Infect. Immun., July 1, 2002; 70(7): 3521 - 3528.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ThoraxHome page
British Thoracic Society of Standards of Care Comm
BTS Guidelines for the Management of Community Acquired Pneumonia in Childhood
Thorax, May 1, 2002; 57(90001): i1 - 24.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
R. L. Schloesser, D. Fischer, W. Otto, W. Rettwitz-Volk, P. Herden, and S. Zielen
Safety and Immunogenicity of an Acellular Pertussis Vaccine in Premature Infants
Pediatrics, May 1, 1999; 103(5): 60e - 60.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 Arch Pediatr Adolesc MedHome page
M. A. Lovell, A. M. Miller, and J. O. Hendley
Pathological Case of the Month
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, September 1, 1998; 152(9): 925 - 926.
[Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Infect. Immun.Home page
Q. He, N. N. T. Minh, K. Edelman, M. K. Viljanen, H. Arvilommi, and J. Mertsola
Cytokine mRNA Expression and Proliferative Responses Induced by Pertussis Toxin, Filamentous Hemagglutinin, and Pertactin of Bordetella pertussis in the Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells of Infected and Immunized Schoolchildren and Adults
Infect. Immun., August 1, 1998; 66(8): 3796 - 3801.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
S. L. Katz
Humoral Antibody Formation in Infants Aged One to Three Months Injected With a Triple (Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis) Alum-precipitated Antigen, by William L. Bradford, MD, et al, Pediatrics, 1949;4:711-718
Pediatrics, July 1, 1998; 102(1): 207 - 209.
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Home page
 PediatricsHome page
R. Shaikh, D. Guris, P. M. Strebel, and M. Wharton
Underreporting of Pertussis Deaths in the United States: Need for Improved Surveillance
Pediatrics, February 1, 1998; 101(2): 323 - 323.
[Full Text] [PDF]