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Immunity to pertussis wanes during the years after vaccination. In adults, pertussis reportedly accounts for up to 20% of cases of cough lasting longer than 2 weeks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides details of a 2004 outbreak of pertussis in 11 newborns at a single hospital in Texas after exposure to a healthcare worker with pertussis.
The 24-year-old healthcare worker had been fully vaccinated for pertussis during early childhood. She developed symptoms of cough, posttussive emesis, and dyspnea about 2 to 3 weeks after her spouse had similar symptoms; she tested positive for pertussis by polymerase chain reaction assay. While she was ill, the healthcare worker directly exposed 113 infants to pertussis; 11 became ill (…