Definition for pertussis

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacteriumBordetella pertussis; a similar, milder disease is caused by B. more

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious disease caused by the bacteriumBordetella pertussis; a similar, milder disease is caused by B. parapertussis. Worldwide, there are 30?50 million pertussis cases and about 300,000 deaths per year (World Health Organization data). Despite generally high coverage with DTP and DTaP, pertussis is one of the leading causes of vaccine-preventable deaths world-wide. Most deaths occur in young infants who are either unvaccinated or incompletely vaccinated; three doses of DTP is necessary for protection against pertussis. Ninety percent of all cases occur in third world countries. However, in the Winter of 2006, a New York school district suffered a large pertussis outbreak with thirteen plus students falling victim to the infection. Also in the fall of 2006, a pertussis outbreak struck New Trier High School, a public school in Winnetka, with twenty four high school students catching the disease. In response, the Cook County Department of Public Health provided vaccine, free of charge, to eligible students. less