In-depth look at Pertussis

Infants too young to be immunized and the elderly are most at-risk of getting Pertussis. Some pertussis cases at the December 14th, 2010 meeting of the Oklahoma Immunization Advisory Committee, Dr. Kristy Bradley, State Epidemiologist, reported:

"In 2009, 175 suspected cases of Pertussis in Oklahoma were reported to the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH). 117 (67%) met the case definition and were reported to the CDC

So Far in 2010, 293 Pertussis reports have been received.

• 92 were classified as confirmed or probable
• 82 reports are under investigation

Oklahoma is seeing "clusters" of Pertussis cases, not an outbreak, at this time.

• Oklahoma County-26 cases (10 in July)
• Pittsburg County-25 (11 in November)
• Tulsa County- 52 (22 in November, 8 in December)
• The age range is 11 days to 84 years
• Median age: 8 years
• 58% of affected infants have been hospitalized; no pertussis-associated deaths identified

The Pertussis Outbreak in California during 2010 is the largest outbreak of Pertussis in the United States in the past 63 years. There have been 10 deaths; 9 of which were infants less than 2 months of age. 

• In California, 7,297 cases have been reported to-date in 2010.”

(TAIC note: the 10^th death was an ex-28 week preemie that was 2 months old who had received the 1^st dose of DTaP just 15 days prior to onset of the disease. The majority of infant deaths in California in 2010 have occurred in infants that were less than 3 months of age. To access additional information on California’s outbreak, go to “California Pertussis Summary of Reports” at: http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/immunize/Pages/PertussisSummaryReports.aspx).

Once again, Dr. Bradley says:

“The OSDH will continue to work on Prevention and Control:

OK-Health Alert Network Advisory to healthcare providers and public health work force will be issued when localized clusters of pertussis activity are recognized by surveillance

Local media release advising the public of recommendations for Tdap (Whooping Cough) vaccination and availability

Focusing vaccination efforts on household members of infants < 1 year of age, pregnant women, caregivers of young children, healthcare personnel, and a tetanus booster for adolescents or adults<65 years of age with Tdap in place of Td

Per approved school entry immunization rules, one dose of Tdap vaccine will be required for all Oklahoma students entering the 7^th grade beginning with the fall semester of 2011.” (emphasis added by TAIC)