
Pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough is caused due to a coccobacillus, aerobic, non motile, gram-negative bacteria called Bordetella pertussis. The virulence factors of B. pertussis include filamentous hemagglutinin, pertussis toxin, fimbria, pertactin and tracheal cytotoxin. These bacteria get transmitted to susceptible individuals from respiratory droplets of infected ones, as they mainly attack the mucosal layers of the respiratory tract. Pertussis can cause serious illnesses in children, newborns and even in adults, and can prove to be life threatening especially for newborns. Immunization programs against pertussis have been adopted in most of the countries of the world to protect their children against this disease. However, at present many pharmaceutical companies have also concentrated their efforts in developing therapeutic drugs for effective management of this disease.