BACKGROUND: A resurgence of pertussis has been observed in Canada, the United States and Australia since the 1980s, but inconsistent data are currently available for Europe. The objective of this paper is to describe the epidemiology of pertussis in Western European countries to discuss future vaccination strategies. METHODS: The European Community funded a network for the epidemiologic surveillance of measles and pertussis in 1998. Sixteen European countries provided national surveillance data for pertussis for the period 1998-2002 in a standard format. Data were pooled and analyzed to describe incidence rates by age group, seasonality, proportion of hospitalized patients and deaths among notified cases. RESULTS: Children younger than 1 year had the highest incidence during the entire period. Rates in the older than 14 years age group increased by 115% during the study period. Northern countries showed the highest incidence figures in all age groups. Among children younger than 1 year, 70% were admitted into hospital. Children younger than 6 months of age and those not vaccinated were most likely to be hospitalized. Thirty-two deaths were reported, 87% of which were in children younger than 6 months of age. CONCLUSIONS: Pertussis is far from being controlled in Europe. Whereas the incidence in children younger than 1 year was high but remained stable, rates in adults doubled in 5 years.
BACKGROUND: A resurgence of pertussis has been observed in Canada, the United States and Australia since the 1980s, but inconsistent data are currently available for Europe. The objective of this paper is to describe the epidemiology of pertussis in Western European countries to discuss future vaccination strategies. METHODS: The European Community funded a network for the epidemiologic surveillance of measles and pertussis in 1998. Sixteen European countries provided national surveillance data for pertussis for the period 1998-2002 in a standard format. Data were pooled and analyzed to describe incidence rates by age group, seasonality, proportion of hospitalized patients and deaths among notified cases. RESULTS:Children younger than 1 year had the highest incidence during the entire period. Rates in the older than 14 years age group increased by 115% during the study period. Northern countries showed the highest incidence figures in all age groups. Among children younger than 1 year, 70% were admitted into hospital. Children younger than 6 months of age and those not vaccinated were most likely to be hospitalized. Thirty-two deaths were reported, 87% of which were in children younger than 6 months of age. CONCLUSIONS: Pertussis is far from being controlled in Europe. Whereas the incidence in children younger than 1 year was high but remained stable, rates in adults doubled in 5 years.
Authors: Alexandre Pereira; Aparecida S Pietro Pereira; Célio Lopes Silva; Gutemberg de Melo Rocha; Ivo Lebrun; Osvaldo A Sant'Anna; Denise V Tambourgi Journal: Am J Trop Med Hyg Date: 2010-04 Impact factor: 2.345
Authors: G Gabutti; M Bergamini; P Bonanni; M Guido; D Fenoglio; A Giammanco; L Sindoni; C Zotti; V Boddi; F Bamfi; R Severini; A Bechini; S Boccalini; P Crovari Journal: Epidemiol Infect Date: 2008-01-16 Impact factor: 2.451
Authors: Hans Hallander; Abdolreza Advani; Marion Riffelmann; Carl H W von König; Valerie Caro; Nicole Guiso; Frits R Mooi; Anna Gzyl; Margit S Kaltoft; Norman K Fry; Jussi Mertsola; Qiushui He Journal: J Clin Microbiol Date: 2007-08-15 Impact factor: 5.948
Authors: Giovanni Gabutti; Chiara Azzari; Paolo Bonanni; Rosa Prato; Alberto E Tozzi; Alessandro Zanetti; Gianvincenzo Zuccotti Journal: Hum Vaccin Immunother Date: 2014-11-01 Impact factor: 3.452
Authors: Inma Crespo; Sonia Broner; Núria Soldevila; Ana Martínez; Pere Godoy; Maria-Rosa Sala-Farré; Maria Company; Cristina Rius; Angela Domínguez; The Pertussis Working Group Of Catalonia Journal: Hum Vaccin Immunother Date: 2014-11-01 Impact factor: 3.452