Pertussis (whooping cough): surveillance

As a nationally reportable disease in Canada, surveillance of pertussis is conducted by public health professionals in provinces and territories who report cases to the Public Health Agency of Canada through the Canadian Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (CNDSS).

Cases are reported by health care providers to public health units if they present with symptoms and are laboratory confirmed or have a known link to a laboratory confirmed case. More information on the national case definition can be found by following the links below.

In addition, pertussis is monitored through the Immunization Monitoring Program, ACTive (IMPACT), an active hospital-based paediatric surveillance system supported by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Each IMPACT hospital has a designated nurse monitor supervised by a volunteer physician specializing in pediatrics and/or infectious diseases who actively searches for children that have been admitted to hospital as a result of a pertussis infection.

Case Definitions for Diseases Under National Surveillance: Pertussis:

• Case Definitions for Diseases under National Surveillance, 2009
• Case Definitions for Diseases under National Surveillance, 2000

For more information on pertussis epidemiology, transmission, prevention and control, refer to information for Health Professionals.