Whooping Cough Cases Increase in Central Italy after COVID-19 Pandemic

• Main Authors: Giulia Linardos (Author), Luana Coltella (Author), Stefania Ranno (Author), Velia Chiara Di Maio (Author), Luna Colagrossi (Author), Elisabetta Pandolfi (Author), Maria Beatrice Chiarini Testa (Author), Leonardo Genuini (Author), Francesca Stoppa (Author), Matteo Di Nardo (Author), Annalisa Grandin (Author), Renato Cutrera (Author), Corrado Cecchetti (Author), Alberto Villani (Author), Massimiliano Raponi (Author), Paola Bernaschi (Author), Cristina Russo (Author), Carlo Federico Perno (Author), Rossana Scutari (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: MDPI AG, 2024-05-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.3390/antibiotics13050464; 2079-6382
• Keywords: <i>Bordetella pertussis</i>; whooping cough; infants; epidemiology; vaccine; pregnancy; Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Antibiotics, Vol 13, Iss 5, p 464 (2024)

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 <i>B. pertussis</i> infection between August 2023 and January 2024, and compare them with <i>B. pertussis</i> 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 <i>B. pertussis</i> 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 <i>B. pertussis</i>, 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 <i>B. pertussis</i> DNA levels (Ct mean: 26). Only one child, with very high <i>B. pertussis</i> 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.