Skip directly to site content Skip directly to search
An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Pertussis / Whooping Cough (Bordetella pertussis)
2010 Case Definition

Pertussis / Whooping Cough (Bordetella pertussis)
2010 Case Definition
NOTE: A surveillance case definition is a set of uniform criteria used to define a disease for public health surveillance. Surveillance case definitions enable public health officials to classify and count cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions. Surveillance case definitions are not intended to be used by healthcare providers for making a clinical diagnosis or determining how to meet an individual patient’s health needs.

CSTE Position Statement(s)

  • 09-ID-51

Case Classification

Probable

In the absence of a more likely diagnosis, a cough illness lasting ≥2 weeks, with at least one of the following symptoms:

  • Paroxysms of coughing; OR
  • Inspiratory "whoop"; OR
  • Post-tussive vomiting; AND
  • Absence of laboratory confirmation; AND
  • No epidemiologic linkage to a laboratory-confirmed case of pertussis.

Confirmed

  • Acute cough illness of any duration, with isolation of B. pertussis from a clinical specimen; OR
  • Cough illness lasting ≥2 weeks, with at least one of the following symptoms:
    • Paroxysms of coughing; OR
    • Inspiratory "whoop"; OR
    • Post-tussive vomiting; AND
    • Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) positive for pertussis;

OR

  • Illness lasting ≥2 weeks, with at least one of the following symptoms:
    • Paroxysms of coughing; OR
    • Inspiratory "whoop"; OR
    • Post-tussive vomiting; AND
    • Contact with a laboratory-confirmed case of pertussis.

Comments

The clinical case definition above is appropriate for endemic or sporadic cases. In outbreak settings, a case may be defined as a cough illness lasting at least 2 weeks (as reported by a health professional).

Related Case Definition(s)

Back to Top
Print
Content Source:
Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology

National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)

NNDSS receives and shares case data from state, local, and territorial health departments to help public health monitor, control, and prevent serious diseases.

View All
Sign up for Email Updates