Pertussis continues to be responsible for a significant disease burden worldwide. Although immunization practices have reduced the occurrence of the disease among children, waning vaccine- and infection-induced immunity still allows the disease to affect adolescents and adults who, in turn, can transmit the disease to non-immunized or partially immunized infants. This document is the result of a meeting in Mexico City of international experts who analyzed recent medical information in order to establish the current status of the epidemiology, diagnosis and surveillance of pertussis and, especially, the value of the dTpa booster dose in adolescents and adults as a pertussis prevention strategy in Mexico.