Mortality risk factors among hospitalized children with severe pertussis

BACKGROUND: Some children hospitalized for severe pertussis need intensive care; moreover, some children die because of deterioration alone or in combination with other complications. The purpose of this study was to identify the mortality risk factors among hospitalized children with severe pertussis. METHODS: This study evaluated the medical records of 144 hospitalized children with severe pertussis at the Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Centre between January 2016 and December 2019. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 2 months (IQR 1–4 months), with 90.3% of the patients aged < 6 months and 56.9% of the patients aged < 3 months. A total of 38 patients were admitted to intensive care unit (ICU), 13 patients died, and the mortality of severe pertussis was 34.2%, with patients younger than 6 weeks accounting for 76.9% of the deaths. On the multivariate analysis, the independent risk factors for death were WBC > 70.0 × 10(9)/L (odds ratio [OR], 230.66; 95% confidence interval [CI], 5.16–10,319.09 P = 0.005) and pulmonary hypertension (PH) (OR 323.29; 95% CI 16.01–6529.42; P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Severe pertussis mainly occurred in children aged < 3 months. The mortality of severe pertussis was 34.2%, with patients younger than 6 weeks accounting for the majority of the deaths. We recommend the first dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) should be advanced to the age of 2 months or even 6 weeks. The presence of a WBC > 70.0 × 10(9)/L and PH were the prognostic independent variables associated with death.