Abstract
Pertussis has been well-known disease since the middle ages and it was rated among the most frequent causes of deaths in pre-vaccination period. Introduction of vaccination in 50th was connected with the rapid decline of cases in the Czech Republic either as in other countries.
Despite of vaccination coverage the illness had not been eradicated because of absence of long-lasting immunity both after vaccination and nature infection. The increasing number of cases in U.S. and Western European countries had been recorded in early 80th as a result of decreasing vaccination level in children.
The main reason ? high frequency of adverse effects associated with whole-cell pertussis vaccine (wP) promoted the development of less reactogenic acellular pertussis vaccine (aP). The aP vaccine has an improved safety profiles in children and allowed to vaccinate some of children untill then contraindicated.