Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Microbiology 2008-3289 9 4 2017 11 15 219 223 EN Masoumeh Nakhost Lotfi Department of Bacteriology, Microbiology Research Center, Pertussis Reference Lab, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Vajiheh Sadat Nikbin Department of Bacteriology, Microbiology Research Center, Pertussis Reference Lab, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Omid Nasiri Department of Bacteriology, Microbiology Research Center, Pertussis Reference Lab, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Farzad Badmasti Department of Bacteriology, Microbiology Research Center, Pertussis Reference Lab, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran Fereshteh Shahcheraghi Department of Bacteriology, Microbiology Research Center, Pertussis Reference Lab, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran 2016 06 18 2017 06 15 Background and Objectives: Bordetella holmesii is associated with a pertussis-like respiratory syndrome in healthy individuals and also a rare cause of septicaemia, endocarditis, pneumonia, and septic arthritis, mostly in immunocompromised patients. Culture technique and real-time PCR are 2 methods used to detect Bordetella spp. Materials and Methods: In this study, 435 nasopharyngeal specimens of patients with suspected whooping cough were checked for the presence of B. holmesii using 2 methods of culture technique and real-time PCR. Results: In this study, we detected hIS1001 and IS481 of B. holmesii in 2 infants suspected of having pertussis-like syndrome. Conclusion: Our observations demonstrate that accurate diagnosis is needed to discriminate between B. holmesii and B. pertussis infections among pertussis cases; otherwise, it could lead to misestimating pertussis rate and vaccine efficacy. https://ijm.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijm/article/view/1062 https://ijm.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijm/article/download/1062/741