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Pertussis

InfectiousBordetella pertussis16th centuryDroplet
TypeInfectious
CauseBordetella pertussis
First Known16th century
TransmissionDroplet

About Pertussis

Whooping cough can cause violent coughing fits lasting 10 weeks or more. The sound of a whooping cough in a child is unforgettable. Before vaccination it killed thousands of American children each year. Whole-cell pertussis vaccine came into wide use in the 1940s and acellular vaccines in the 1990s. Immunity wanes over time.

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