Report on three cases of pertussis in the Urbino area (Italy)

Pertussis is a contagious, infectious disease that affects mainly children and is caused by Bordetella pertussis. The pertussis vaccine has changed the epidemiology of the disease up to the point when it almost vanished, with a minimum number of cases recorded in Italy (2008) when vaccination coverage was 97%. For the same reason the natural history of the disease was also modified. Indeed, in high-income countries the lack of immunity acquired with the vaccine causes adolescents and adults to become an important source of infection for unvaccinated subjects, the newborn and children who have not completed their primary education. The reduction in the vaccinated pediatric population and the loss of acquired immunity could be the cause of the re-emergence of a disease which, in developing countries, has a 4% mortality rate among children under one year of age. In this work we describe three cases of pertussis that are apparently unrelated. They occurred in the area of Urbino in a period of slightly under a month. Italy is going through a historical moment of great suspicion regarding pediatric vaccination, despite scientific evidence that should allay such suspicion. To increase people's awareness of vaccinations with a view to comments made regarding older children and adults it is our view that more effective intervention methods are needed.