Fatal non cardiogenic acute pulmonary oedema induced by Bordetella pertussis in an infant

Mortality from Bordetella pertussis (B. pertussis) is mainly due to pneumonia. We report the case of an infant (1 month old) who died within 12 hours from refractory hypoxemia. Pulmonary biopsy was positive for B. pertussis. Lungs examination showed bilateral pulmonary oedema and focal hemorrhages. His mother was probably the contaminator since she caughed before the baby and an increase in the titer of its B. pertussis antibodies in her sera was observed. The bacteria isolated was as virulent as the B. pertussis reference strain in vivo in a respiratory murin model.