Infant pertussis: who was the source?

Background: In the United States in the 1990s, the incidence of reported pertussis in adults, adolescents and infants increased; infants younger than 1 year of age had the highest reported incidence.

Methods: In 4 states with Enhanced Pertussis Surveillance, we examined the epidemiology of reported pertussis cases to determine the source of pertussis among infants. A source was defined as a person with an acute cough illness who had contact with the case-infant 7-20 days before the infant's onset of cough.

An Outbreak of Varicella among children attending preschool and elementary school in Illinois.

In our investigation of a varicella outbreak among students in preschool, kindergarten, and grades 1-3 in Winnebago County, Illinois, we found an overall varicella vaccine efficacy of 88%, evidence that the circulating virus was a wild-type strain (as determined by polymerase chain reaction analysis), and evidence that vaccination of children View Article and Find Full Text PDF