Pertussis outbreak mainly in unvaccinated young children in ultra-orthodox Jewish groups, Jerusalem, Israel 2023

Despite being a vaccine-preventable disease for decades, pertussis control is still a public health challenge. A pertussis outbreak emerged in Jerusalem (n = 257 cases, January to June 2023). Most cases were young children (median age 1.5 years), and 100 were infants under 1 year. The hospitalisation rate of infants was 24%, which was considerably higher than that of cases aged 1 year and above (3.8%). There was one fatality in an unvaccinated, 10-week-old infant whose mother had not received pertussis vaccination during pregnancy. Most children were unvaccinated and resided in Jewish ultra-orthodox neighbourhoods in Jerusalem district. An intervention programme and vaccination campaign are ongoing.