Epidemiology of pertussis among adolescents, adults, and older adults in selected countries of Latin American: a systematic review

Abstract

We aimed to describe the impact of pertussis on adolescents, adults, and older adults over 2007–2018 in selected Latin American countries by reviewing the literature. We searched the Medline, Embase, Scopus, LILACS, Scielo, Google Scholar, CAPES Journals Web-portal, and Cochrane databases for observational epidemiological studies, clinical trials, and systematic reviews of primary studies. Data were extracted and analyzed for all individuals aged ≥10 years. Of 6,891 studies identified only 25 were eligible. Studies were conducted in Brazil (14), Argentina (4), Colombia (4), Mexico (2) and Chile (1). Epidemiological data among target population were limited. No studies clearly assessed the status of asymptomatic or oligosymptomatic B. pertussis carriers in these age groups. Among all pertussis cases identified, the percentage of patients ≥10 years-old ranged between 2.1% and 66.7% depending on country and sample characteristics. The definition of cases, diagnostic methods, and age groups were not consistent across studies.

Keywords

• adult
• adolescent
• latin america
• epidemiology
• whooping cough