201. Epidemiology and surveillance of pertussis among infants in Catalonia, Spain, during 1997-2001
- Author
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Joan Roca, Antoni Martinez, Carlos Rodrigo, Valentí Pineda, Fernando Moraga, Mercedes Boronat, Romà Baraibar, and Cristina Méndez
- Subjects
Microbiology (medical) ,Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Pediatrics ,Whooping Cough ,MEDLINE ,Bordetella pertussis ,Vaccines, Acellular ,Epidemiology ,medicine ,Humans ,Disease Notification ,Whooping cough ,Pertussis Vaccine ,business.industry ,Incidence (epidemiology) ,Incidence ,Vaccination ,Infant, Newborn ,Infant ,medicine.disease ,Hospitalization ,Infectious Diseases ,Spain ,Vaccination coverage ,Population Surveillance ,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health ,Female ,Tos ferina ,business - Abstract
Despite high levels of vaccination coverage in Spain and Catalonia (98% in 2002), pertussis is a significant cause of morbidity among infants. The study aim was to estimate the incidence of hospitalizations for pertussis among infants from 1997 through 2001 in Catalonia.A retrospective review of records for patients12 months of age with a diagnosis of pertussis (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, code 033) at discharge from 11 Catalonian hospitals was performed.Three hundred forty-six patients were identified, 62 (1997), 28 (1998), 59 (1999), 150 (2000) and 47 (2001), of whom 284 (82%) were4 months of age. The incidence of hospitalizations because of whooping cough from 1997 through 2001 in Catalonia was estimated at 118 cases per 100,000 inhabitants12 months of age. Symptoms included paroxysmal cough (95%), cyanosis (67.9%), vomiting (36.7%) and apneic episodes (27.7%). Three infants (0.8%) died, all2 months of age. Two hundred thirty-four patients (67.6%) were unvaccinated (222 patients were3 months of age). Six patients (1.7%) were fully vaccinated (3 doses). Considering that only 220 patients12 months of age were reported through the Catalonian Notification System in 1997-2001, at least 126 hospitalizations (36.4%) for pertussis were not reported to this system (mean difference per year, 32.6%; range, 8.4-56%).In this study, hospitalizations exceeded the number of notifications by at least 32.6%; therefore, the real incidence is likely to be greatly underestimated. Pertussis incidence remains high among infants, most of whom are4 months of age and have had no or 1 dose of vaccine.
- Published
- 2005