title: Outbreak of pertussis on a college campus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pertussis is increasing among adolescents and adults despite universal childhood vaccination. This investigation describes an outbreak of pertussis among undergraduate students and assesses the burden of cough illness on a college campus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Students presenting with prolonged cough were evaluated with culture, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and serology. An e-mail survey was performed to determine the burden of cough illness on campus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven undergraduates were evaluated. Their mean duration of cough was 28 days. No student had cultures positive for B. pertussis; one was PCR positive. Ten (27%) had serologic values consistent with acute pertussis infection. The e-mail survey was returned by 225/500 (45%) students. Of these, 66 (29%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 23%-36%) reported a cough of 2 weeks or longer duration during the fall semester. A conservative estimate showed that the campus-wide incidence of a cough illness meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention case definition for pertussis was 13% (95% CI, 10%-16%) during the fall semester.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescents and young adults are susceptible to pertussis infection. This study demonstrates that there was a substantial rate of pertussis infection during an outbreak on a college campus. Our findings support the routine use of the acellular pertussis vaccine in adolescents and adults.
authors.affiliation: Office of Workforce and Career Development, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga, USA. allen.craig@state.tn.us
authors.forename: Allen S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: Seth W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Kathryn M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.forename: MaryLou
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haynes
authors.forename: Anthony D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Dake
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schaffner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003371:Cough / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013333:Student Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013714:Tennessee / Q000453:epidemiology; D014917:Whooping Cough / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*