Journal Article

Pertussis Is a Frequent Cause of Prolonged Cough Illness in Adults and Adolescents

Halperin, Scott A., Morris, Annette, Smith, Bruce, Spika, John S., Senzilet, Linda D., Alagaratnam, Merrilyn

2001

Overview

Although pertussis is increasingly recognized as a cause of prolonged cough illness in adolescents and adults, its prevalence is not well established. We evaluated pertussis infection in 442 adolescents and adults ⩾12 years old (mean age, 41.3 years) who had a cough-related illness of 7–56 days' duration. For 4 patients (0.9%), results of nasopharyngeal culture or PCR were positive for Bordetella pertussis; for 10 patients (2.3%), either results of culture or PCR were positive or pertussis antibody titers increased 4-fold. Eighty-eight patients (19.9%) had either laboratory-confirmed pertussis or laboratory evidence of pertussis. These patients had significantly longer duration of cough than did patients without laboratory evidence of pertussis (56 days vs. 46 days), and more of them had vomiting with cough (45.5% vs. 28.5%, respectively). Pertussis is a common cause of prolonged cough illness in adolescents and adults and is frequently associated with other symptoms of whooping cough.

• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press,University of Chicago Press
• Subject: Adolescent / Adolescents / Adult / Aged / Aged, 80 and over / Antibodies / Antigens / Antigens, Bacterial - analysis / Bordetella pertussis / Bordetella pertussis - genetics / Bordetella pertussis - immunology / Bordetella pertussis - isolation & purification / Canada - epidemiology / Child / Cough / Cough - epidemiology / Cough - immunology / Cough - microbiology / Cough - physiopathology / Diseases / DNA, Bacterial - analysis / Epidemiology / Female / Humans / Infections / Major Articles / Male / Middle Aged / Polymerase chain reaction / Time Factors / Whooping cough / Whooping Cough - epidemiology / Whooping Cough - immunology / Whooping Cough - microbiology / Whooping Cough - physiopathology