Pertussis Essay

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Clinical manifestations of pertussis in adolescents and adults are often less severe than in infants and children. If previously immunized, a prolonged cough may be the only symptom. Other symptoms may include sputum production, sweating episodes, and sore throat. Complications of pertussis can result in pneumonia or otitis media. A severe cough may contribute to urinary incontinence, rib fracture, lumbar strain, hernia, and rarely stroke, or seizure in relation to hypoxia (Cornia & Lipsky, 2017). Complications of pertussis may be more severe in the elderly, those with other comorbidities, or ones that are immunocompromised.
Bordetella pertussis leads to most serious manifestations in young infants, who are more susceptible to pertussis (Walther, …show more content…

This generality of symptoms leads many primary care providers to not check for pertussis on a regular basis. Inconsistencies in screening can lead to a large number of cases being undiagnosed and untreated. In order for correct identification of pertussis, microbiological confirmation is needed. This correctly establishes the diagnosis of B. pertussis infection as well as identifies the diagnosis for public health surveillance and for outbreak investigations. Bacterial culture and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) are the most useful clinical tools for patients with a cough duration shorter than four weeks. If the cough has been longer than four weeks, serology is the test of choice (Cornia & Lipsky, …show more content…

Vaccines are the primary prevention method for combating pertussis. In the early 1900’s a vaccine was developed using killed whole cell pertussis (wP). Later in the 1970s and 1980s, acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines were developed. The acellular pertussis vaccines had a lower rate of adverse reactions and were shown to also be effective. These are the vaccine of choice today because of their lower possibility of side effects but, the whole cell vaccine may offer a higher level of immunity. The aP component is combined with the combination tetanus and diphtheria (Td) components to create the DTaP for children up to 6 years of age and Tdap vaccine for those over the age of 7 (Chiappini, et al.,

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