Clinical characteristics and predictors of severe pertussis in hospitalized children after the COVID-19 period in Türkiye: a multicenter study.

The patient's median age was 2 months (IQR 1.5-5.0), and 77.8% were younger than 6 months.

In infants ≤ 2 months, apnea (OR = 3.74; p < 0.001), respiratory distress (OR = 5.48; p < 0.001), and WBC count (OR = 1.035 per 1 × 10 3 /µL increase; p = 0.003) were independently associated with severe disease.

In children > 2 months, respiratory distress (OR = 13.59; p < 0.001) and not being up-to-date with vaccination (OR = 2.60; p = 0.019) were independent predictors of severe disease.

Overall, 21.5% of patients required intensive care, 24.3% needed ventilation, and mortality was 2.4%.