Epidemiological features of pertussis resurgence based on community populations with high vaccination coverage in China

Abstract

Active symptom surveillance was applied to three selected communities ( 160,147 persons) in Tianjin from 2010 to 2012. We examined 1089 individuals showing pertussis-like symptoms, of which 1022 nasopharyngeal specimens were tested for pertussis by polymerase chain reaction and 802 sera for anti-pertussis toxin antibodies. Of the total cases tested, 113 were confirmed, and their demographic, clinical, and vaccination-related data were collected. The annual incidence was 23.52 cases/100,000 persons among communities, which was 16.22 times that obtained via hospital reports for the same period (P < 0.001). The actual incidence in the 15-69 years age group was most significantly underestimated by hospitals, given that it was 43.08 times that of the reported hospital rate. Among the cases aged <15 years, 84.5% were individuals who had been fully vaccinated. The misdiagnosis rate was as high as 94.69%, and only 5.31% of the confirmed pertussis cases were properly diagnosed as pertussis at their first medical visit. Pertussis incidence in China has been severely underestimated and this was in part due to a high misdiagnosis rate. Adolescents and adults have become new high-risk populations. Future work should focus on reinforcing immunization programmes, especially among adolescents and adults.

Keywords: Community populations; epidemiological features; high immunization coverage; pertussis resurgence; symptom surveillance.

Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Seasonal distribution of confirmed pertussis cases based on community population.