EPIREVIEW. Pertussis in New South Wales, 1993-2005: the impact of vaccination policy on pertussis epidemiology.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether changes in vaccination policy have affected the epidemiology of pertussis in NSW between 1993 and 2005. METHODS: Surveillance data from the NSW Notifiable Diseases Database was reviewed for the period. RESULTS: 35,695 cases of pertussis were notified; annual incidence rates varied from 18.4 to 84.2 per 100,000 people. The highest rates of pertussis were consistently found in infants aged 0-6 months. Rates of disease in other age groups changed markedly over the study period, with high rates currently observed in adult age groups. CONCLUSIONS: New strategies may be needed to control pertussis in infants and in adults who now comprise the largest proportion of cases.