EPIDEMIOLOGY OF PERTUSSIS IN ARGENTINA DURING THE 2006-2010 PERIOD: TRENDS BY AGE GROUP AND STATUS OF VACCINATION. POSSIBLE SOURCE OF INFECTION

FLORES D.; LARA C.; ZURITA E.; SORHOUET C.; FIORITI A; FIORI S; BOTTERO D.; BARBERO P.; BETTIOL M.; B. GATTI; PIANCIOLA L.; MAZZEO M; ZAMBONI M.I.; ANCHART E.; GRAIEB A; S. GONZÁLEZ AYALA; GALAS M.; HOZBOR D.

Baltimore

Simposio; Ninth International Bordetella Symposium.; 2010

In Argentina, as in other countries, the incidence of pertussis has increased steadily. Particularly in our country such an increase is registered since 2002 and pertussis outbreaks have been detected ever since in different provinces and areas clearly indicatingthe presence of this disease. The aim of our work is to describe the epidemiology of the disease in Argentina during the period 2006-2010 and discuss the possible causes that could explain the re-emergence of the disease. CDC and the Argentinian Ministry ofHealth criteria were used for pertussis diagnosis. We analyzed the proportion of pertussis cases by age and immunization status of patients. In some cases the contacts were analyzed.Out of 13,234 patients with symptoms compatible with pertussis, 3,211 were confirmed: 614 in 2006, 751 in 2007, 823 in 2008, 523 in 2009 and 500 in the first two trimesters of 2010. Approximately 55% of cases were registered in Buenos Aires and Cordoba, themost populated regions of our country. While the largest proportion of cases occurred in children under 6 months of age and in patients with incomplete immunization schemes to provide protection, there were cases in adolescent and adult contacts.These data for Argentina´s population are new and we hope that this information could contribute to describe the epidemiology of the disease and to improve preventive strategies.Here we reported the proportion of pertussis cases by age and immunization status of patients detected in the Argentinean Pertussis National ReferenceCenter. The data presented clearly show that pertussis remains a public health problem in our country. While the largest proportion of cases occurs in childrenunder 6 months of age and in patients with incomplete immunization schemes to provide protection, there were cases in adolescent and adult contacts.From the reported contact data , we observed that the main source of infection of susceptible children is represented by parents, as in other countries, followed by other cohabiting adults and brothers.