Pertussis among American Indian and Alaska Native infants

Abstract

Collaborators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health programs report the substantially increased burden of hospitalization for pertussis among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) infants compared with the general U.S. infant population. Cases occur primarily in infants too young to be afforded protection from the current pertussis immunization schedule that begins at two months of age and despite vaccination coverage rates similar to or just slightly lower than national coverage levels. Additional strategies will be required to reduce the burden. Because the Alaska and Southwest regions, among seven regions, account for the majority of the differences between AI/AN children and the general U.S. population, it is likely that ethnicity per se is one contributing factor among others such as geography, environment, and social factors. Collaborators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health programs report the substantially increased burden of hospitalization for pertussis among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) infants compared with the general U.S. infant population. Cases occur primarily in infants too young to be afforded protection from the current pertussis immunization schedule that begins at two months of age and despite vaccination coverage rates similar to or just slightly lower than national coverage levels. Additional strategies will be required to reduce the burden. Because the Alaska and Southwest regions, among seven regions, account for the majority of the differences between AI/AN children and the general U.S. population, it is likely that ethnicity per se is one contributing factor among others such as geography, environment, and social factors.