Eurosurveillance - Volume 4, Issue 12, 01 December 1999

Pertussis and pertussis vaccination, particularly the almost simultaneous conduct of different clinical trials in various parts of Europe, has generated much debate in the past ten years. Nonetheless many important public health aspects still need to be c

Immunisation against pertussis with an acellular pertussis vaccine for children at 3, 5, and 12 months was included in the Swedish vaccination programme in January 1996, 17 years after the withdrawal of whole cell vaccine in 1979. Within months coverage r

Cases of whooping cough have been recorded by the Swiss Sentinel Surveillance Network ‘Sentinella’ (SSSN) since June 1991 to monitor pertussis trends in Switzerland and to assess the current vaccination strategy. The Sentinella network consists of a sampl

The incidence of pertussis throughout the Netherlands, determined by notifications, rose suddenly in 1996 to reach 27.2 cases per 100 000 population, compared with 2.3/100 000 on average from 1989 to 1995. Earlier increases in 1989-1990 and 1994 reflected