Preface

This book aims to present an overview of the pertussis infection, focusing important issues about the diagnosis, the treatment of the disease, and the epidemiological and clinical as‐ pects in populations with high-vaccination rates.

Current proposals for vaccination against pertussis, as well as current strategies of immuni‐ zation programs, which primarily try to protect susceptible young children in the first year of life, who have not yet been immunized or are with incomplete vaccination schedule, will also be addressed.

Despite the effective and safe alternatives for immunoprevention, several challenges still have to be overcome for control of the disease, which remains a highly relevant problem in public health in terms of morbidity and mortality, with an increasing incidence even in countries with high-vaccine coverage.

We would like to thank all those who contributed to the realization of this work, especially the authors, for the content of the chapters of high-scientific value. We would also like to thank InTechOpen publishing team and Ms. Marijana Francetic for the technical support.

> **Waldely Dias and Isaias Raw** Instituto Butantan Center of Biotechnology Special Laboratory of Vaccine Development São Paulo, Brazil

**Section 1**

**Introduction**

**Section 1**
