Antibiotic Treatment of Pertussis: Are 7 Days Really Sufficient?. Issue 4 (April 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Dierig, Alexa; Beckmann, Christiane; Heininger, Ulrich
• Is Part Of: Pediatric infectious disease journal. Volume 34:Issue 4(2015)
• Publication Date: 2015-04
• Subjects: Bordetella pertussis -- pertussis -- polymerase chain reaction; Communicable diseases in children -- Periodicals; Infection in children -- Periodicals; 618.929
• DOI: 10.1097/INF.0000000000000567
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0891-3668

Abstract

Abstract : Short courses of antibiotic therapy are recommended for treatment of pertussis. We report 2 young unvaccinated infants with persistently positive Bordetella pertussis by polymerase chain reaction from nasopharyngeal swabs despite 7 days of clarithromycin (15 mg/kg/d) therapy. In 1 patient, quantitative polymerase chain reaction was 7.02 (log GEq/mL) at the onset of treatment, 6.26 at the end of treatment and remained positive with 2.64 and 2.69 during and after a second 7-day course, respectively. The generally believed assumption that contagiousness of pertussis is terminated after 5 days of antibiotic treatment should be challenged, at least in young infants.