Pertussis is an acute and very contagious pulmonary disease, clinically characterized by periods of coughing and paroxysms that may cause death. The disease afflicts mainly the pediatric population and is life threatening to children under the age of 1 year. Since the beginning of the second millennium, the number of cases of pertussis has increased, menacing public health, despite the availability of the pertussis vaccine. The resurgence of the disease among adults and older children creates a reservoir of infection that will afflict the unimmunized or incompletely immunized children. As newborns and infants show the highest mortality rate, immunization during pregnancy is a new strategy to reduce the burden of pertussis. The authors report the case of a newborn that presented respiratory distress accompanied by marked leukocytosis. Bronchiolitis was the initial diagnostic hypothesis, but the clinical picture became typical of pertussis when paroxysmal coughing ensued. Isolation of the Bordetella pertussis and antigenic demonstration by polymerase chain reaction were positive from respiratory secretion. Despite appropriate antibiotic therapy and intensive care management the child died and the autopsy showed characteristic diagnostic findings. The authors call attention to this diagnosis when facing respiratory failure among young children, mainly in the presence of marked leukocytosis. Thorough research on the immunization status of the patient’s social environment is of crucial importance.
SizaireV, Garrido-EstepaM, Masa-CallesJ, Martinez de AragonMV. Increase of pertussis incidence in 2010 to 2012 after 12 years of low circulation in Spain. Euro Surveill. 2014;19(32):20875. [https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES2014.19.32.20875]. [PMID:25139074]
TorresRSLA, SantosTZ, TorresRAA, et al. Resurgence of pertussis at the age of vaccination: clinical, epidemiological, and molecular aspects. J Pediatr. 2015;S0021-7557(15)00006-6. [PMID:25623040]
Centro de Vigilância Epidemiológica Prof. Alexandre Vranjac (CVE). Informe técnico Coqueluche-2011: atualizacão da situacão epidemiológica. São Paulo: Divisão de Doenças de Transmissão Respiratória; 2011 [cited 14 Dec 2013]. Available from: http://www.cve.saude.sp.gov.br/htm/resp/pdf/IF11_COQUELUCHE.pdf
SaffarMJ, HashemiA, GhorbaniGR, RezaiMS, ShahmohammadiS, ShojaeiJ. Clinical and laboratory features of pertussis in hospitalized infants with confirmed versus probable pertussis cases. Ann Med Health Sci Res. 2014;4(6):910-4. [https://doi.org/10.4103/2141-9248.144911]. [PMID:25506485]
MikelovaLK, HalperinSA, ScheifeleD, et al. Predictors of death in infants hospitalized with pertussis: a case-control study of 16 pertussis deaths in Canada. J Pediatr. 2003;143(5):576-81. [https://doi.org/10.1067/S0022-3476(03)00365-2]. [PMID:14615725]
PaksuMŞ, AkgünM, KaradağA, AşılıoğluN, BeletN, ŞensoyG. Fulminant pertussis in very young infants: two cases and review of the literature. Turk J Pediatr. 2013;55(4):426-9. [PMID:24292037]
PaddockCD, SandenGN, CherryJD, et al. Pathology and pathogenesis of fatal Bordetella pertussis infection in infants. Clin Infect Dis. 2008;47(3):328-38. [https://doi.org/10.1086/589753]. [PMID:18558873]
SawalM, CohenM, IrazuztaJE, et al. Fulminant pertussis: a multi-center study with new insights into the clinico-pathological mechanisms. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2009;44(10):970-80. [https://doi.org/10.1002/ppul.21082]. [PMID:19725100]
ForsythK, NagaiM, LepeticA, TrindadeE. Pertussis immunization in the global pertussis initiative international region: recommended strategies and implementation considerations. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2005;24(5, Suppl):S93-7. [https://doi.org/10.1097/01.inf.0000160921.74004.12]. [PMID:15876935]
KlineJM, LewisWD, SmithEA, TracyLR, MoerschelSK. Pertussis: a reemerging infection. Am Fam Physician. 2013;88(8):507-14. [PMID:24364571]
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn
Mendeley
StumbleUpon
CiteULike
Reddit
Email