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- Title
Whooping Cough Cases Increase in Central Italy after COVID-19 Pandemic.
- Authors
Linardos, Giulia; Coltella, Luana; Ranno, Stefania; Di Maio, Velia Chiara; Colagrossi, Luna; Pandolfi, Elisabetta; Chiarini Testa, Maria Beatrice; Genuini, Leonardo; Stoppa, Francesca; Di Nardo, Matteo; Grandin, Annalisa; Cutrera, Renato; Cecchetti, Corrado; Villani, Alberto; Raponi, Massimiliano; Bernaschi, Paola; Russo, Cristina; Perno, Carlo Federico; Scutari, Rossana
- Abstract
Pertussis continues to be a highly contagious respiratory infection, especially in children, with cyclical peaks of disease spread every three to five years. Here, we report relevant cases of B. pertussis infection between August 2023 and January 2024, and compare them with B. pertussis prevalence in pediatric patients admitted to the Reference Italian Pediatric Hospital, located in Rome, from January 2015 to July 2023. A total of 5464 tests for B. pertussis were performed during the study period, and 6.9% were positive. At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a sharp decrease in the presence of B. pertussis, which reappeared only in August 2023, recording five new cases. All five children presented with paroxysmal cough 5 to 10 days before admission. Four patients had other mild respiratory symptoms and moderate B. pertussis DNA levels (Ct mean: 26). Only one child, with very high B. pertussis DNA levels (Ct: 9), presented with severe respiratory failure. The patients with mild/moderate infection achieved clinical recovery while the patient with the severe manifestation died of cardiac arrest. These observations highlight the reemergence of pertussis even in vaccinated countries and its association with morbidity and mortality especially in young children. This emphasizes the importance of rapid diagnosis to immediately implement appropriate treatment and monitoring of immune status.
- Subjects
ROME; ITALY; WHOOPING cough; COVID-19 pandemic; RESPIRATORY insufficiency; COUGH; CHILD patients; RESPIRATORY infections
- Publication
Antibiotics (2079-6382), 2024, Vol 13, Issue 5, p464
- ISSN
2079-6382
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/antibiotics13050464