Vigilancia epidemiológica de la tosferina en Cataluña 2011-2018

Introduction

The objective of the article is to describe the main results of pertussis surveillance in Catalonia and to evaluate its evolution in recent years.

Material and methods

According to the case definition in Catalonia, suspicious and confirmed cases notified to the Obligatory Disease Declaration System (MDO) for the period 2011-2018 have been included, after the validation of the notification made by health professionals to this system has been completed.

Results

In 2011, a reemergence of whooping cough was observed in Catalonia which remained during the study period (2011-2018), although since 2016 a decrease in incidence has been observed. The highest rate for the period was that of 2015, which reached the value of 49.2 per 100,000 inhabitants. Children under one year showed the highest incidence rates, but decreased over the period.

The recommendation to vaccinate against pertussis pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy, that started in 2014, has impacted on the incidence in children under the age of 1 and especially in children under 2 months, which has decreased significantly. The high percentage of cases in children between 5-18 years with 4-5 doses of acellular vaccine shows the lower effectiveness of this vaccine induced immunity.

Conclusions

Control of whooping cough is currently a challenge that public health surveillance services have to face.