Doctors? notifications of pertussis

Cough symptoms in children aged 5–14 years in Sydney, Australia: non‐specific cough or unrecognized pertussis?

“…Studies show that pertussis in older children is significantly underdiagnosed. Although much of the coughing illness described may not be true pertussis, 3 these data nevertheless suggest that the burden of pertussis in children aged 5–14 years is, as reported elsewhere, 10,23 higher than clinically diagnosed pertussis, which in turn is higher than notification data. The higher prevalence of reported pertussis exposure in children aged 10–14 years suggests that true pertussis infections were more common in this group.…”

“…Pertussis in older children and adults is endemic and more likely to present in an atypical and non‐specific manner, 5–8 and so is frequently not diagnosed 9 . When diagnosed, pertussis is often not notified to public health authorities in Australia 10 and elsewhere 4,11 , 12 …”

“…4 Pertussis in older children and adults is endemic and more likely to present in an atypical and non-specific manner, [5][6][7][8] and so is frequently not diagnosed. 9 When diagnosed, pertussis is often not notified to public health authorities in Australia 10 and elsewhere. 4,11,12 Additional doses of pertussis vaccine have been recently introduced in a number of countries, including Australia, 13 and the United Kingdom.…”

Diagnostic testing and discharge coding for whooping cough in a children's hospital

“…There are a variety of factors impacting on the completeness of notifications for pertussis in infants and children. The introduction of laboratory notification in Australian jurisdictions except Western Australia, since the early 1990s, is likely to have had a substantial impact on total notifications, as hospitals and medical practitioners are known to under‐report 13,14 . In 1995, in the North Coast region of NSW, of 341 cases of notified pertussis, 262 (77%) were notified by laboratories, 62 (18%) by general practitioners and only 13 (4%) by hospitals 13 .…”

“…The introduction of laboratory notification in Australian jurisdictions except Western Australia, since the early 1990s, is likely to have had a substantial impact on total notifications, as hospitals and medical practitioners are known to under‐report 13,14 . In 1995, in the North Coast region of NSW, of 341 cases of notified pertussis, 262 (77%) were notified by laboratories, 62 (18%) by general practitioners and only 13 (4%) by hospitals 13 . Reasons noted for poor notification by medical practitioners in hospital or general practice include poor understanding of the notification process and not feeling comfortable notifying an unconfirmed case 14 .…”