Use of Birth Certificates and Surveillance Data to Characterize Reported Pertussis among Texas Infants and Young Children, 1995 to 2000

Abstract

More than two-thirds of the children reported as pertussis cases were old enough to have at least one dose of a pertussis-containing vaccine but were not immunized. Maternal and pediatric characteristics on birth certificates were not useful in predicting either underimmunization or hospitalization for pertussis complications. More current assessments of maternal and pediatric characteristics should be part of pertussis contact investigations.

Diagnosis and management of pertussis

“…8,15 Severe paroxysm, post-tussive cyanosis, whooping, posttussive vomiting, apnea, pneumonia and seizures are the most frequent reasons patients are admitted to hospital, regardless of age. [21][22][23] Infants, especially those who have not been vaccinated or have been incompletely vaccinated, are the most likely to require hospital care. 6,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Birth before 37 weeks' gestation and low birth weight have been inconsistently indicated as independent risk factors for hospital admission.…”

“…6,[21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Birth before 37 weeks' gestation and low birth weight have been inconsistently indicated as independent risk factors for hospital admission. 21,23 Death from pertussis is inversely related to age, with almost 90% of reported deaths occurring in unvaccinated …”

Estimating the burden of pertussis in young children on hospitals and emergency departments: a study using linked routinely collected data

“…Previous studies of pertussis using linked data have predominately focused on aspects of pertussis vaccination such as vaccine safety [6][7][8], vaccine uptake [9,10], and the validity of linked data for vaccine effectiveness studies [11,12]. Fewer studies have examined risk factors for infection [13][14][15] and long-term consequences of infection [16]. We could find no studies which linked data on pertussis from statutory notifications to coded data on hospitalizations and ED presentations.…”

Rationale for the administration of acellular pertussis vaccine to parents of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit

“…2 Of all communicable diseases for which vaccines are available, only the incidence of pertussis is increasing. [3][4][5] In adults, symptoms can include a chronic cough of several weeks duration without the paroxysms frequently associated with the disease. 6,7 In the vaccine era, several factors have been implicated to explain the increase in infections.…”