pertussis in missouri: evaluation of nasopharyngeal culture, direct fluorescent antibody testing, and clinical case definitions in the diagnosis of pertussis. | no diagnostic test for pertussis in routine use in the united states has both high sensitivity and high specificity. during a statewide increase in the incidence of pertussis in missouri, we studied the clinical features of 153 patients with suspected pertussis in the greater st. louis area from whom a specimen for pertussis culture had been taken between 15 may and 19 september 1989. in this cross-sectional study, nasopharyngeal cultures were more likely to be positive for persons whose specime ... | 1993 | 8443307 |