Published Date: 1998-08-27 23:50:00
Subject: PRO> Pertussis in adults, current trends - USA
Archive Number: 19980827.1699
PERTUSSIS IN ADULTS, CURRENT TRENDS - USA
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See Also
Pertussis - USA: Review, case study & comment 980706233613Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 10:14:59 -0400
Source: Southern Medical Journal & news media [excerpts
Via: George Robertson <GRobertson@magentabio.com>
Up to 25% of adults who see doctors for a persistent cough have pertussis
(whooping cough) according to a report in the August issue of the Southern
Medical Journal. Many diagnoses are missed.
In adults with healthy immune systems, whooping cough usually causes mild
symptoms, such as coughing, a low-grade fever, and a runny nose. An
infected adult may have a mild case, but spread the bacteria to a young,
unvaccinated child, in whom the illness can be life-threatening. Before a
vaccine for whooping cough was introduced in the 1940s, the infection was
the leading killer of children in the US, notes the study author, Dr. Seth
W. Wright of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
The number of reported US cases of pertussis reached a low of 1,010 in
1976, but has been rising since, Wright reports. An average of more than
4,600 cases were reported annually between 1990 and 1995. And over the last
two decades, the proportion of cases in adolescents and adults rose from
15.1% to 26.9%, he writes.
Some experts recommend booster vaccines for adolescents and adults, but the
present vaccine causes more severe side effects in adults than children,
Wright notes. A new acellular form of the vaccine, now being tested in
adults, appears to be effective and better tolerated.
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