Pertussis in north-central and northwestern regions of Algeria

Abstract

Introduction: Pertussis outbreaks continue to occur in many countries despite high vaccination coverage. Under-diagnosed cases in adolescents and adults may result in increased transmission to infants, who are at risk of severe pertussis. Additional measures to protect both groups should be considered. Methodology: Nasopharyngeal samples and sera were collected from patients and household contacts with clinically suspected pertussis. Diagnoses were confirmed by culture, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and serology. Bordetella pertussis isolates were characterized by antimicrobial sensitivity and fimbrial serotyping. Results: Of 392 participants, 134/248 patients (54%) and 66/144 contacts (45.8%) had confirmed pertussis infections. B. parapertussis was not detected. All B. pertussis isolates were sensitive to the antibiotics tested, and all expressed the Fim3, not the Fim2, fimbrial serotype. Most patients (81.2%) were <6 months (51.8% of whom were <3 months) of age; 77.6% were unvaccinated, and most positive contacts were mothers 20-40 years of age. Conclusions: Despite high vaccination coverage, pertussis is circulating in Algeria. Most infections occur in unvaccinated infants <6 months of age, with mothers as the main source of infection. An adolescent/adult booster should be considered. Adoption of sensitive and specific laboratory tests would improve pertussis diagnosis and surveillance.

Pertussis among patients with clinically compatible illness in the Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia

“…A study from Morocco had similar findings, with B. pertussis accounting for >90% of the total detected Bordetella species (Katfy et al, 2017;Katfy et al, 2020). This result was higher than that from studies in Algeria (82%) (Benamrouche et al, 2016), Tunisia (82%) (Zouari et al, 2012), South Africa (78%) (Muloiwa et al, 2016), Morocco (92%) (Katfy et al, 2020), and Romania (63%) (Dinu et al, 2013).…”

The burden of laboratory-confirmed pertussis in low- and middle-income countries since the inception of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in 1974: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In addition to Bordetella pertussis incidence, Ghanaie et al reported a separate incidence of 2 per 100,000 for Bordetella parapertussis [ 43 ]. Contacts were reported to have an incidence of 0.69/100000 in Benamrouche et al’s study [ 52 ].…”

Immune responses to vaccine-preventable diseases among toddlers and preschool children after primary immunization and first booster in Northwestern Algiers, Algeria

“…Previous studies explored the low immunity to pertussis with its rapid waning over time and it has been demonstrated that the vaccine-induced antibodies began to wane 1–3 years after pertussis vaccination; children became probably more susceptible to infection at 4 years of age [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ]. Although local epidemiology of pertussis and immunization schedule play a role in the duration of protection following immunization [ 4 , 11 ], it has previously been demonstrated that the immunogenicity of whole-cell pertussis vaccines may differ considerably according to the manufacturer, as there are difficult to produce reproducibly [ 14 , 15 ]. Another explanation might be a modest number of studied subjects.…”

“…One hundred and ten (82.09%) cases were infants under 6 months of age; among them 51.82% were less than 3 months old and were incompletely or not vaccinated. The primary source of exposure was mothers (54/66, 51.80%) [4] . As regards the diphtheria, after being well controlled in the 1980s, Algeria was experiencing an epidemic in the 1990s, more observed among adolescents and adults.…”