Pertussis, or whooping cough, is a highly contagious respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Despite advances in vaccination, pertussis remains a global public health problem, with cases and outbreaks occurring in various regions. In this context, the objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological profile of patients hospitalized for pertussis in southern Brazil between 2020 and 2024, in order to understand the distribution of cases and the epidemiology of the disease. Epidemiological, descriptive and cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from TABNET health information of the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (DATASUS). The variables analyzed were sex, age group, race/skin color, federal unit and year of hospitalization, in patients from the southern region. Between 2020 and 2024, southern Brazil recorded a total of 317 hospitalizations for pertussis. The annual distribution of hospitalizations showed 27 cases in 2020, 21 in 2021, 46 in 2022, 34 in 2023 and 189 in 2024, which represented 59% of the total. The age group under 1 year was the most affected, with 239 hospitalizations, followed by children aged 1 to 4 years with 37 hospitalizations. Of the 317 hospitalizations, 152 were in male patients and 165 in female patients. Regarding race/skin color, 250 hospitalizations occurred in individuals classified as White, 40 in Brown, 12 in Black, 4 in Yellow, 2 in Indigenous, and 40 had no information. The state of Santa Catarina accounted for 40% of cases, followed by Paraná with 96 and Rio Grande do Sul with 94 records. The data indicate that pertussis remains a relevant public health challenge in southern Brazil, with a total of 317 hospitalizations between 2020 and 2024 ‒ mostly in White children under 1 year of age. This scenario reinforces the importance of maternal immunization and vaccination coverage in the pediatric population. The marked increase in hospitalizations in 2024 also highlights the ongoing need for rigorous epidemiological surveillance and the development of public health policies targeted at protecting the most vulnerable groups.
Medeiros et al. (Sun,) studied this question.