Pertussis is a highly transmissible respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis, which has worldwide distribution and is characterized by episodes of dry cough. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, in 2024 Brazil experienced a marked increase in pertussis cases, recording 7,440 (data subject to change) confirmed cases, the highest number of notifications of the disease in a decade. This increase may be explained by the resumption of social interactions after the pandemic and by declining vaccination coverage. This study aimed to analyze the epidemiological profile of children with pertussis, since this is the most affected age group. Descriptive quantitative study using secondary data from a database containing 8,526 confirmed pertussis cases. Cross-tabulation was performed between age group and variables such as sex, pregnancy, race/skin color, education, place of residence, vaccination, symptoms, complications, hospitalization, use of antimicrobials, laboratory testing and clinical outcome. Analysis was performed using absolute frequencies. A higher concentration of cases was observed in children under 1 year of age. There was a predominance in females (55.1%) compared to males (44.9%). White race/skin color accounted for 76.3% of cases. Most cases were residents of large municipalities (64.5%), with the East macro-region being the most affected (50.2%). Regarding vaccination, 23.5% of cases were unvaccinated and 16.1% had no vaccination information recorded. Symptoms such as cough (97.5%), paroxysmal cough (55.2%), vomiting (44.3%), inspiratory whoop (34.2%) and apnea (19.7%) were the most frequent. With respect to complications, 9.0% of recorded cases had some type of complication, with children under 1 year being the most affected. The data show a significant predominance of pertussis in children under 1 year of age, particularly among females and residents of large municipalities. In addition, a considerable proportion of cases were unvaccinated or had missing vaccination information. These findings underscore the importance of expanding vaccination coverage and strengthening surveillance and prevention efforts to reduce incidence and control disease spread.
Freitas et al. (2026) studied this question.