Critical pertussis may model organ failure in critical illness and injury. Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies

摘要

In this issue of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, Dr. Namachivayam and colleagues (1), pediatric critical care investigators from Melbourne, Australia, present a descriptive retrospective report on 49 children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit during a 20-yr period. Of these, seven infants (14%) died, and six of these were in the cohort requiring any form of circulatory support. Only 18 of the 49 (about 37%) of these required intubation and mechanical ventilation. All seven fatalities occurred in this group, so that the risk of death increased to 38% in children requiring intubation and any mechanical ventilatory support. Of interest would be any data confirming a change in mortality rate in recent years from critical pertussis, as compared with death rates from other life-threatening illnesses and injuries in very young babies.