I have spoken with several parents who believed that pertussis was a disease of the past. Nevertheless, pertussis is a common cause of chronic cough illness in adults and older children. A study published in the June 15, 2001 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases found that pertussis was the cause of chronic cough in 19.9% of the patients studied. For healthy teens and adults, this is usually nothing more than a long nuisance (lasting months, sometimes with vomiting). For babies and those at high risk, pertussis can be severe or even life threatening.

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