[Atypical pertussis: challenges in diagnosis, prevention and response strategies]

The number of pertussis cases reported through hospital-based passive surveillance severely underestimated the actual disease incidence. This may be due to factors such as atypical symptoms in the vaccine era, limited diagnostic criteria, insufficient clinician awareness, poor access to diagnostic technologies, and problems in monitoring and reporting management. Atypical pertussis often lacks specific symptoms or signs, making it prone to underdiagnosis or missed diagnosis in clinical practice. As a result, patients are not managed or treated effectively. This enables the pathogen to continue spreading. This is an important reason for the difficulty in accurately assessing the actual prevalence of pertussis. This study reviews the global understanding and evolving perspectives of atypical pertussis. It also examines the challenges this condition poses to prevention and control efforts. These challenges include low consultation rates, frequent underdiagnosis or missed diagnoses, limited laboratory testing access, and insufficiently targeted prevention strategies. The study also proposes countermeasures to optimize diagnosis, surveillance, and overall prevention and control efforts.