Whooping cough should be considered when adult patients present with a persistent, yet undiagnosed cough, according to a study by French clinicians.
This suggestion is based on increasing incidences of parent -infant transmission of the infection over the past 12 years despite a pertussis vaccination program that has existed for more than 40 years.
Dr Serge Gilberg from the Faculté de Médecine Necker-Enfant Malades and colleagues from other specialist units in Paris, France, assessed the frequency of pertussis in 217 patients who had consulted their general practitioners regarding a persistent cough.
A total of 70 (32 percent) were confirmed as having whooping cough. Among the 70 patients, one had a positive culture and there was a positive polymerase chain reaction in 36. Forty patients displayed increases or decreases greater than two-fold in anti-pertussis toxin immunoglobulin G (IgG) titre between serum samples, collected during the acute and convalescent periods.
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