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November 21, 2025
2 min watch
NEW YORK — Pertussis is one of the top 10 leading causes of death worldwide and remains a concern in the U.S. despite vaccination efforts, according to C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH.
In this Healio video perspective, Creech, a course director for the Infectious Diseases in Children Symposium and professor of pediatrics at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, discusses how dealing with this ongoing health threat requires physicians to “think, test and treat”: think carefully about symptoms, test with a nasopharyngeal swab, and start patients on azithromycin early to cut down on the spread of the disease.
“We usually have the luxury of waiting until the [PCR] test is back before we treat patients with the drug of choice, which is azithromycin in standard doses,” Creech, who is also a member of the Healio Pediatrics Peer Perspective Board, said. “But sometimes, if the epidemiology is right, it’s wise to go ahead and treat [patients] before the test comes back.”
Creech, who also serves as director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program, highlighted the importance of encouraging patients to receive vaccinations and boosters for pertussis throughout their life, while also reminding physicians that this is one of those “old foes” they still need to be vigilant for.
“Even though we have great vaccines that work very well, we still have to think about pertussis,” Creech said. “And the one place I want everybody to make sure they’re thinking about pertussis is in coughs that last more than 7 to 10 days.”
For more information:
C. Buddy Creech, MD, MPH, can be reached at pediatrics@healio.com.
Sources/Disclosures
Source:
Healio Interviews
Disclosures:
Creech reports consulting for AstraZeneca, Dianthus, GSK, Guidepoint Global, Merck and TD Cowen; receiving royalties from UpToDate; receiving grant funding from the CDC, Moderna, the NIH and Pfizer; and serving on the data safety monitoring boards for Bavarian Nordic and GSK.
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