Pertussis outbreak in a US military community: Kaiserslautern, Germany, April-June 2005

Abstract

Although pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease, outbreaks can occur despite high levels of immunization in a community. This report summarizes an outbreak of pertussis that occurred predominantly among adolescents in a US military community in Kaiserslautern, Germany, during the period April-June 2005. All patients were determined to have had complete age-appropriate immunization with pertussis-containing vaccine, although newer vaccines have since been introduced for adolescents that could have greatly decreased the magnitude and impact of the outbreak.