Pertussis. A Clinical Study.

Although in recent years pediatricians have turned their attention away from the common infectious diseases of childhood, pertussis is still a significant and dangerous disease, causing more deaths in the first year of life than measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and poliomyelitis combined. 1,2 In 1955, there were 467 deaths due to pertussis reported in 62,786 cases of the disease in the United States. 2 With the reduction of the danger of secondary bacterial complications through the use of appropriate antibiotics, the mortality rate has been reduced markedly. The symptomatology of pertussis has also been altered significantly by the advent of improved symptomatic care, chemotherapy, and mass immunization. Our study comprises a review of all cases of pertussis admitted to the San Francisco General Hospital during a 10½-year period. We have found no comparable, study in the recent American literature. Clinical Findings During the period from July 1, 1947, to Jan.