Abstract

ALBAN, Ángela María et al. Newborn pertussis: a re-emergent disease. Infect. [online]. 2012, vol.16, n.3, pp.183-186. ISSN 0123-9392.

Neonatal pertussis is an upper respiratory tract infection whose incidence has recently increased. Adults have been demonstrated to be the main source for neonatal infection, accounting for the rising rates of disease in this later population group. Currently, the disease affects chiefly infants under three months of age, among which, those younger than one moth have the highest rates of complication and death. Here we present an indigenous case of a 16 days old newborn that arose in an area where pertussis vaccination during the first months of life is the rule and very few cases had been  documented throughout the last years. The patient presented whooping cough with cyanosis and emesis episodes, whose complete blood count showed markedly and increasingly high leukocytosis and lymphocytosis. Her clinical course complicated with seizures and required mechanical ventilation. B. pertussis was demonstrated by means of immunofluorescence, polymerase chain reaction and culture. A brief literature review is made with emphasis on current landmarks on pertussis vaccination.

Keywords : Pertussis; Whooping cough; Leukocytosis; Immunofluorescence; Vaccination.

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