Clinical characteristics and laboratory diagnosis of pertussis in children / 中华实用儿科临床杂志

ABSTRACT

Pertussis is a highly contagious,vaccine-preventable respiratory illness.The reemergence of pertussis occurs in recent years.Typical pertussis is characterized by severe paroxysmal coughing which can persist for weeks after initial onset,however,some infants may have no special symptom.Newborns and children who are not vaccinated or partially vaccinated present more severe symptoms.Pertussis related complications include pneumonia,encephalitis,pulmonary hypertension,hyper leukocytosis,and co-infections.Nucleic acid detection,bacterial culture and serum antibody test are helpful for laboratory diagnosis.The right specimen collection and culture medium choice are crucial to bacteriological diagnosis of pertussis.