Clinical and laboratory features of pertussis in children of different age groups
A retrospective analysis of the one hundred and two children’s case histories hospitalized in the Grodno District Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases has been carried out from January 2014 toDecember 2016 with the diagnosis of pertussis. The data of the official statistics of pertussis in the Republic of Belarus are used.Results. There has been an increase in the sickness rate of the pertussis infection since 2012 in Belarus, while the sickness rate has increased 1.6 times in 2015 compared to the same period of time in 2014. Among the hospitalized patients, there have been 64 children under 12 months (62.7%), 26 patients of the first 3 months of life - 26 (25.5%), from 3 to 5 years - 5.9% cases, over 5 years - 14.7% of the sick. In the observation group 37 children over the age of 3 months have not been vaccinated: parents of 15 (14.7%) children had refused to vaccinate their children, 22 (21.6%) children have medical contraindications to vaccination. Hospitalized children from different age groups have had the same quantity of clinical manifestations and complications of pertussis. Children of 5 years and upward have met hematologic changes of pertussis much less than the children of younger age groups. Detection of Bordetella pertussis’s DNA by PCR have been observed in 37.3% of samples, positive results of IHT - in 29.4%. Conclusion. Since 2012 there has been an increase in sickness rate of the pertussis infection in the Republic of Belarus. Among the hospitalized children, the children of the first year of life (62.7% of cases) with a typical moderate course of the disease have prevailed, 61.7% of the children have not been vaccinated against pertussis. It is advisable to share the use of molecular-genetic and serological methods for the verification of pertussis. A study of the intensity of immunity after vaccination in the different age groups of children is required to solve the need for additional revaccination.