Linardos Giulia, Coltella Luana, Ranno Stefania, Di Maio Velia Chiara, Colagrossi Luna, Pandolfi Elisabetta, Chiarini Testa Maria Beatrice, Genuini Leonardo, Stoppa Francesca, Di Nardo Matteo, Grandin Annalisa, Cutrera Renato, Cecchetti Corrado, Villani Alberto, Raponi Massimiliano, Bernaschi Paola, Russo Cristina, Perno Carlo Federico, Scutari Rossana
Unit of Microbiology and Diagnostic Immunology, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCSS, 00165 Rome, Italy.
Preventive and Predictive Medicine Research Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, IRCSS, 00165 Rome, Italy.
Antibiotics (Basel). 2024 May 19;13(5):464. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics13050464.
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 infection between August 2023 and January 2024, and compare them with 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 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 , 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 DNA levels (Ct mean: 26). Only one child, with very high 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.
百日咳仍然是一种高度传染性的呼吸道感染疾病，尤其在儿童中高发，每三到五年会出现疾病传播的周期性高峰。在此，我们报告2023年8月至2024年1月期间的相关感染病例，并将其与2015年1月至2023年7月期间入住位于罗马的意大利参考儿童医院的儿科患者中的患病率进行比较。在研究期间共进行了5464次[此处原文缺失具体检测项目]检测，其中6.9%呈阳性。在新冠疫情期间，[此处原文缺失具体内容]的出现率急剧下降，直到2023年8月才再次出现，记录到5例新病例。所有5名儿童在入院前5至10天均出现阵发性咳嗽。4名患者有其他轻度呼吸道症状且[此处原文缺失具体检测项目]DNA水平中等（Ct平均值：26）。只有一名儿童[此处原文缺失具体检测项目]DNA水平非常高（Ct：9），出现了严重呼吸衰竭。轻度/中度感染的患者实现了临床康复，而表现严重的患者死于心脏骤停。这些观察结果凸显了即使在已接种疫苗的国家百日咳也会再度出现，以及它与发病率和死亡率的关联，尤其是在幼儿中。这强调了快速诊断以立即实施适当治疗和监测免疫状态的重要性。
