The Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network Critical Pertussis Study: collaborative research in pediatric critical care medicine.
OBJECTIVE
To provide an updated overview of critical pertussis to the pediatric critical care community and describe a study of critical pertussis recently undertaken.


METHODS
The six sites, seven hospitals of the Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network, and 17 outside sites at academic medical centers with pediatric intensive care units.


RESULTS
Despite high coverage for childhood vaccination, pertussis causes substantial morbidity and mortality in US children, especially among infants. In pediatric intensive care units, Bordetella pertussis is a community-acquired pathogen associated with critical illness and death. The incidence of medical and developmental sequelae in critical pertussis survivors remains unknown, and the appropriate strategies for treatment and support remain unclear. The Collaborative Pediatric Critical Care Research Network Critical Pertussis Study has begun to evaluate critical pertussis in a prospective cohort.


CONCLUSIONS
Research is urgently needed to provide an evidence base that might optimize management for critical pertussis, a serious, disabling, and too often fatal illness for U.S. children and those in the developing world.
University of Utah (JSB), Salt Lake City, UT, USA. jeri.burr@hsc.utah.edu
Jeri S
JS
Burr
Tammara L
TL
Jenkins
Rick
R
Harrison
Kathleen
K
Meert
K J S
KJ
Anand
John T
JT
Berger
Jerry
J
Zimmerman
Joseph
J
Carcillo
J Michael
JM
Dean
Christopher J L
CJ
Newth
Douglas F
DF
Willson
Ronald C
RC
Sanders
Murray M
MM
Pollack
Eric
E
Harvill
Carol E
CE
Nicholson
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019072:Antibiotic Prophylaxis; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003422:Critical Care; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D010372:Pediatrics; D012107:Research Design; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014917:Whooping Cough / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents