How to Use pertussis in a Sentence

pertussis

noun
Definition of pertussisnext
  • And the more doses of the acellular vaccine, the higher the pertussis risk.
    — Carrie Arnold, Discover Magazine, 23 May 2013
  • Texas health data shows a steady uptick in diseases such as pertussis and mumps in recent years.
    — The Washington Post, The Mercury News, 21 Feb. 2017
  • Illnesses like the flu, the common cold, and pertussis (whooping cough) are thought to mainly spread this way.
    — Colleen Stinchcombe, SELF, 13 Feb. 2019
  • That was the case when a whooping cough, or pertussis, vaccine was introduced in the early 1950s.
    — Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2021
  • Whooping cough, or pertussis, is spread through droplets.
    — Lynne Terry, OregonLive.com, 8 June 2017
  • At first, pertussis can seem like the common cold, causing symptoms like a runny or stuffy nose, red, watery eyes, a fever, and a cough.
    — Korin Miller, SELF, 7 Apr. 2018
  • Whooping cough, also called pertussis, spreads through coughs and sneezes.
    — Julie Washington, cleveland, 24 Nov. 2019
  • Tdap, which stands for tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis.
    — Laura Dorwart, Health.com, 11 Oct. 2019
  • Since the early 1980s, pertussis cases have steadily risen, but in the past few decades, cases have surged noticeably.
    — Erin Stone, San Francisco Chronicle, 14 June 2018
  • Since then, however, in parts of Africa and Asia, cases of cholera, diphtheria, and pertussis have risen, and a resurgence of measles and polio has caused greater concern.
    — Michael Specter, The New Yorker, 4 Dec. 2020
  • The pertussis vaccine, which is required for almost all children in U.S. public schools, is also made this way.
    — Hilda Bastian, The Atlantic, 24 June 2021
  • Some require even more -- children get five doses of the DTaP vaccine, which protects them against diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis.
    — John Bonifield, Elizabeth Cohen and Dana Vigue, CNN, 30 Aug. 2020
  • Beginning in the mid-1990s, the U.S. began using a new pertussis vaccine that showed fewer side effects.
    — Carrie Arnold, Discover Magazine, 23 May 2013
  • The technique has been used for years in vaccines against hepatitis B, pertussis (whooping cough) and other diseases.
    — Alexander Tin, CBS News, 1 Feb. 2022
  • Diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (Tdap), as well as an annual flu shot, are recommended by the agency for teens and adults.
    — Adrianna Rodriguez, USA TODAY, 9 June 2021
  • This is the tetanus vaccine, combined with vaccines for diphtheria and pertussis, also known as whooping cough.
    — Alix Boyle, courant.com, 16 Sep. 2019
  • The pertussis formulation, known as whole-cell, was replaced in the 1990s with acellular versions contained in the current DTaP and Tdap vaccines.
    — New York Times, 18 June 2019
  • Outbreaks of certain preventable and highly contagious diseases like measles and pertussis (whooping cough) are on the rise.
    — Natasha Lavender, SELF, 26 Aug. 2019
  • For example, the Tdap shot, which covers tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, is something adults should receive every five to 10 years.
    — Leslie Nemo, Discover Magazine, 23 Sep. 2021
  • This process, designed to limit the spread of a contagious disease like pertussis, for example, is normal work for the health department.
    — Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 20 Mar. 2020
  • It is known that the RSV vaccine can suppress the response to other vaccines, when they are given together — for instance the pertussis component of Tdap, or flu shots.
    — Helen Branswell, STAT, 21 Aug. 2023
  • The most serious consequences of pertussis occur among infants, the aged and those with a weakened immune system.
    — Steve Schering, chicagotribune.com, 27 Nov. 2019
  • In 2015, when parts of California had some of the lowest vaccination rates in school children, outbreaks of measles and pertussis began to riddle schools and theme parks.
    — Nina Shapiro, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2021
  • At Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, two new cases of whooping cough — or pertussis — were reported early last week.
    — Staff Report, chicagotribune.com, 18 Nov. 2019
  • Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a very contagious disease that spreads through coughing or sneezing.
    — Fox News, 19 Dec. 2019
  • Fewer children are receiving the vaccines for diseases, such as measles, mumps, rubella and pertussis.
    — Jessie Balmert, The Enquirer, 13 Oct. 2020
  • Before 1997, the whooping cough vaccine used actual cells of B. pertussis to trigger the immune system.
    — Arman Azad, CNN, 10 June 2019
  • That shot, too, is crucial because pertussis, aka whooping cough, can cause serious illness in a baby.
    — Laura Dorwart, Health.com, 11 Oct. 2019
  • Besides its trademark of a whooping cough, pertussis can cause nervousness, dry mouth and nausea, among other symptoms.
    — Thomas D. Elias, Orange County Register, 17 May 2024
  • Whooping cough is covered by a common childhood vaccination, as part of the DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis) or Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis) shot.
    — Alec Johnson, Journal Sentinel, 30 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pertussis.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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