Clinical Course and Prognosis of Whooping-Cough in Swedish Children during the First Six Months of Life: A Study of Hospitalized Patients 1958–67

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Abstract
From 1958 to 1967 the Roslagstull Hospital treated 158 infants with whooping-cough before the age of 6 months. Only 6 of the children had had more than one injection of triple vaccine. The number of admissions fell from 93 during the 5-year period 1958–62 to 65 during the following 5-year period 1963–67. The average hospitalization time was reduced from 20 to 14 days. 59 children did not lose in weight during their stay in hospital, only 7 (4%) lost 5% or more in weight. Most children had 10–19 coughing attacks per day; 23% had 20 or more attacks and sometimes became cyanotic. In 65% of the cases the cough was denoted as mild, only 26% had severe whooping and vomiting. 14 children (9%) were seriously affected, 9 with cyanotic apnoea and flaccidity, 3 with loss of consciousness, and 2 with convulsions. None of the children died, nor was any case of encephalopathy observed. The incidence of bronchitis-bronchopneumonia was low and fell from 13% during the first to 7% during the second 5-year period. More than half of the children had also other pathogenic bacteria than Bordetella pertussis. Pneumococci predominated, occurring in 33%, and the incidence of pneumococci was correlated to the severity of the illness.