Pertussis or Whooping cough is an highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the Gram-negative coccobacillus Bordetella pertussis. In recent years widespread immunization has significantly reduced the incidence of the disease and of the related mortality rate. However, the effectiveness of the immunization tends to become lower with time, especially in teenagers and adults. The Authors discuss the general characteristics of the disease, the recent increase of its incidence and the efforts to control such an increase with specific regard to the italian setting.
