摘要：Although pertussis is a vaccine-preventable disease, it has been epidemic in Australia since 1993and recently claimed the lives of four children under three months of age. We reviewed nationalnotifications of pertussis from 1991 to 1997 and found notification rates ranged from 2.0 per100,000 population in 1991 to a peak of 30.5 per 100,000 population in 1994 despite pertussisvaccination coverage approaching 90% for the three-dose primary course. We found thatnotification rates were highest in infants (<1 year of age) and school aged children (5 - 14 years ofage). Although there was a resurgence of pertussis in 1996, age-specific notification ratesdecreased for children aged1-7years and it appears that the diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP)booster introduced as a fifth dose at4-5years may be having an effect. We raise the possibilitythat the current whole cell pertussis vaccine may be providing only short-term immunity and thatour results may reflect low or inadequate vaccine coverage among both the population at large andthe individual cases. We identify gaps in the national surveillance system which require attentionincluding under-reporting and the need for information on vaccination status of notified cases;method of diagnosis; and date of birth or age in months to identify the proportion of infants in thehighest risk group, that is under six months of age
