Tos ferina, una enfermedad potencialmente grave en el lactante. ¿Por qué no adelantamos su prevención?

Abstract

Abstract Whooping cough is an acute respiratory infection caused by the Bordetella pertussis, which produces a serious disease with atypical manifestations in infants under 6 months. We present the cases of 13 infants with whooping cough admitted to hospital during a one year period in our hospital. In spite of their mean age (2 months and 5 days), most of them presented the characteristic paroxysmal cough in salvia. In addition to leukocytosis with lymphocytosis, thrombocytosis was also observed in the analysis. The biological study confirmed the diagnosis in a high percentage of the cases. The average stay in hospital was 12 days and two of them were sent to the Intensive Care Unit. All received treatment for 14 days with erythromycin, with a favorable course. Eight of our patients were under two months, so that they had not been vaccinated. We propose that the whooping cough vaccination should be initiated at 4 weeks of life and that a booster shot should be administered at 6 years, 11-13 year and in the adult age. We emphasize that the administration of erythromycin is not only recommendable for the cases in question but also for the close family members.