Outbreak of pertussis in highly immunized adolescents and its secondary spread to their families

An outbreak of pertussis was recognized in a highly immunized sixth-grade class of schoolchildren. Among 43 children aged 11-12 years in the class, 38 had been immunized with three doses or more of DTP containing whole-cell pertussis vaccine, two with two doses of DTP and three children were unimmunized. The last DTP vaccines had been given 6-10 years before the outbreak. A total of eight children with pertussis suffering paroxysmal coughing attacks for 3 weeks or more were identified, seven being fully immunized and one unimmunized. Among the eight cases, two were confirmed by both culture and serology and one by serology alone. The attack rate in fully immunized children was 18.4% (7/38). Secondary spread of pertussis was identified in five of the households from which the eight patients originated. A total of six cases of pertussis from these five households were identified, and two of these were culture-confirmed. These observations suggest that vaccine-induced immunity weakens considerably 6-10 years after vaccination, and that booster immunization with DTP instead of DT is therefore recommended for the control of pertussis.