Whooping cough in the young infant

Abstract

Introduction: Whooping cough has become a major concern for pediatric departments in view of its re-emergence. Objective: Describe the epidemiological, clinical and progressive features of pertussis in infants. Methodology: descriptive, retrospective and multicentric study over 5 years (2014-2018). Results: 43 cases confirmed by PCR, average age 67 days. The majority were not vaccinated. Predominant complications were severe apnea, pulmonary hypertension and ARDS. More than half (58.1%) admitted to ICU. Predictors of ICU hospitalization: age < 3 months and WBC ≥ 30000/mm3. Malignant pertussis in 8 infants. Mortality was 7%. Conclusion: This re-emergence prompts us to review vaccination strategies.