Clinical characteristics of whooping cough in children of different ages during its epidemic surge in Moscow

Objective. To study the features of the course of whooping cough (WC) in childrenof different ages in Moscow during its epidemic surge in the period 2017-2019. Subjects and methods. The investigators followed up 848 children, including 424 (50%) babies under the age of 1 year, 230 (27.1%) toddlers aged 1-3 years, 83 (9.8%) children aged 4-6 years, and 111 (13.1%) ones aged 7-14 years. To verify WC, PCR and ELISA were used, which allowed the diagnosis to confirm in 73.4-87.1 and 43.3- 51.8% of patients, respectively. Results. The disease was typical, with a change in the periods that were characteristic of WC. The proportion of severe forms of infection was still high (20.5 ± 3.2%) among the babies under 1 year of age. The young children were admitted to hospital during the f irst 2 weeks after disease onset. These were babies less than 1 year (44.6 ± 2.4%), toddlers aged 1-3 years (52.4 ± 3.2%), and the older children aged 4-6 years (66.7 ± 5.3%) and 7-14 years (59.12 ± 4.6 %) were admitted mainly at 3-4 weeks. The important clinical aspect of WC during the surge in its incidence was the combined course with other infectious diseases, which was the cause of bronchopulmonary complications. The current measures for specific vaccination against whooping cough in Moscow are presented. Conclusion. The analysis of the symptom complex of WC during the surge in its incidence in Moscow suggests that the main typical clinical picture of the infection remains. Age is a significant factor that determines the characteristics of the course of the disease.

whooping cough, morbidity, children, clinical picture, cough