Emergence of whooping cough: notes from three early epidemics in Persia

Abstract

Whooping cough is a relatively new infectious disease afflicting human beings, compared with other infectious diseases, and is undergoing a resurgence despite decades of vaccination. The oldest known epidemic is thought to be the Paris outbreak of 1578. In this Historical Review, we describe three epidemics of whooping cough in Persia, which although arising roughly one century before the Paris outbreak, have not been examined in detail. A great amount of epidemiological detail was reported that not only distinguishes the various stages and complications of whooping cough, but also reveals unique immunological aspects of this disease. The first of these epidemics is the oldest recorded whooping cough epidemic. On the basis of epidemiological features, we propose that this whooping cough epidemic was the first to have taken place in Persia and might have been part of the first pandemic. This theory pushes back the date of first documented emergence of whooping cough by almost a century, which matches molecular data about its spread. Here, we discuss features of these early epidemics in relation to their initial emergence, potential origins, and spread to Europe.

Pertussis: Microbiology, Disease, Treatment, and Prevention

“…One thousand years later (1578) in France, Guillaume De Baillou provided the first description of whooping cough among children of Paris; he described the illness as "quinte" due to the observed 5-h periodicity of paroxysms seen in acute episodes of disease (3). Recent research suggests that the earliest recorded epidemics of pertussis were noted in Persia (present-day Iran) (4). In Europe, pertussis outbreaks were first described in the 16th century, but recognition of the causative agent did not occur until 300 years later.…”

Control of zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis vector, Phlebotomus papatasi, using attractive toxic sugar baits (ATSB)

“…In these areas, immigration rate is very low, the indigenous people have access to tap water, and ZCL and communicable diseases such as tuberculosis [16], whooping cough and meningitis [17] are prevalent. Rodent burrows can be easily found in the very vicinity of villages in this district, where P .…”

Bioarchaeology of the Human Microbiome

“…During life, dental calculus acts as a sink for microbes that inhabit the respiratory tract (Warinner et al 2014a); thus it could potentially be used to investigate the past carriage rates of certain endemic respiratory pathogens, such as Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, or Corynebacterium diphtheriae, the causative agent of diphtheria. The distinctive symptoms of whooping cough make it easily identifiable in historical records, which have been used to trace the origins and spread of the disease (Aslanabadi et al 2015). While both of these diseases are uncommon today in industrialized nations due to extensive vaccination efforts over the past century, they are rising in incidence, particularly in areas with poor vaccination coverage or with vaccination refusal (Sealey et al 2016;Sangal and Hoskisson 2016).…”