ABSTRACT
Objective @#To investigate the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of cases with pertussis in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province, so as to provide insights into pertussis diagnosis and control.@*Methods@#A total of 186 patients with definitive diagnosis of pertussis in medical institutions in Yiwu City from November 1, 2020 to August 31, 2022 were recruited, and subjects' demographic, clinical symptoms and history of pertussis vaccination were collected using questionnaire surveys. The temporal, population, and spatial distribution and clinical symptoms of pertussis were analyzed using a descriptive epidemiological method, and the clinical characteristics of pertussis patients with different doses of pertussis vaccination were compared.@*Results@#Pertussis was found to predominantly occur during the period between July and November (101 cases, 54.30%), and the three highest-incidence regions included Jiangdong Street, Beiyuan Street and Choujiang Street (87 cases, 46.77%). The 186 pertussis cases included 105 males (56.45%) and 81 females (43.55%), and included 144 cases with age of onset under 7 year (77.42%). Preschool and diaspora children were predominant among all pertussis cases, and the main clinical symptoms included spasmodic cough (97 cases, 52.15%), post-tussive vomiting (82 cases, 44.09%) and aggravated cough at night (77 cases, 41.40%). Routine blood tests measured 119 cases with abnormal white blood cell counts (63.98%), 137 cases with abnormal lymphocyte counts (73.66%), 39 cases with abnormal neutrophil counts (20.97%), 21 cases with abnormal platelet counts (11.29%) and 111 cases with abnormal hemoglobin concentrations (59.68%). There were 55 cases that were unvaccinated (29.57%), 23 cases that were not fully vaccinated (12.37%), and 108 cases that were fully vaccinated (58.06%). There were significant differences among pertussis cases with different doses of vaccination in terms of age, incidence of post-tussive vomiting, percentage of abnormal platelet counts and percentage of hemoglobin concentrations (all P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#The majority of pertussis cases are preschool and diaspora children in Yiwu City from November 1, 2020 to August 31, 2022, and the clinical symptoms mainly include spasmodic cough, post-tussive vomiting and aggravated cough at night, with atypical symptoms. The capability for differential diagnosis of pertussis is required to be improved in medical institutions.