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Pertussis rate increases by one-third

The average incidence rate of pertussis cases reported in 1984 and 1985 increased by 33 percent over cases reported in 1982 and 1983, according to a report in the March 27 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Proper vaccination might have prevented most of the cases, the MMWR study notes.

Provisional figures show that 5,865 pertussis cases were reported to the MMWR in 1984 and 1985, for an average incidence of 1.2 cases per 100,000 population. The average rate reported for 1982 and 1983 was 0.9 cases per 100,000.

The MMWR report, which further analyzed 4,728 of the 5,865 cases, also shows:

• Of patients 7 months to 6 years old whose immunization status was known, more than 70 percent had not been properly immunized. Of those patients, 55 percent had received fewer than three doses of the vaccine and 31 percent had not received any doses. In addition, about half of the patients aged 3 months to 6 months were not properly immunized for their age.