Whooping cough stages comeback

[Guest guest]

Apparently the vaccine 'wears off'.

from AVN list

NO kidding. This is just a press release by drug companies to start

working in the whooping cough vaccine for adults.

Sheri

http://www.usatoday.com/news/healthscience/health/2001-09-10-whooping-cough.

htm

Whooping cough stages comeback

WASHINGTON (AP) — Whooping cough is one of those

diseases most people think is history — but the

dangerous germ that can leave sufferers gasping for

air is making a comeback.

The cough so strong it can break a rib once hit mostly

babies and toddlers, but now it's striking more and

more teen-agers and young adults. Apparently the

whooping cough vaccinations Americans get as babies

eventually can wear off.

Here's the real risk: While older people usually

recover, they can easily spread the illness to infants

too young for vaccinations. Whooping cough can kill

babies.

So experts warn new parents to keep infants away from

anyone who's coughing, even as scientists study

whether millions of Americans should start getting

booster doses of whooping cough vaccine just as many

get regular tetanus shots.

The goal is to develop boosters for older children and

adults so there's " a wall of protection around the

newborn baby, " explains Dr. Decker, a

Vanderbilt University professor who has studied

whooping cough, also called pertussis, for 20 years.

He just joined vaccine manufacturer Aventis Pasteur,

which is working to bring a booster shot sold in

Canada to this country.

Pertussis is a bacterial infection that at first seems

like a cold: a runny nose and hacking cough, first at

night and then during the day. Coughing fits begin a

week or two later, up to 15 coughs in a row followed

by a high-pitched " whoop " as patients gasp for air.

Infants are more likely to turn bluish than whoop as

they run out of air. They can get pneumonia and become

dehydrated and malnourished.

For teens or adults, the severe coughing can cause

vomiting or a hernia, even break a rib.

Consider Decker's own experience. " I got it off my

15-year-old this January, and I was coughing for three

months, " he said. " I could feel my throat closing up

and tightening, and I started choking and gagging. It

was a revelatory experience for someone who's written

the words and not experienced the feeling. "

Often, though, older patients have a milder illness,

just a nagging cough. So they don't see a doctor, or

it's misdiagnosed as bronchitis, because pertussis

testing is very difficult. Indeed, a Vanderbilt study

found about one-fourth of teens and adults with

prolonged coughs unknowingly have pertussis. It's most

contagious during the first three weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted

56,775 whooping cough cases during the 1990s, a 51%

increase from the 1980s — and a rise that's

continuing.

Last year, CDC had reports of more than 7,000 cases,

and " we suspect there may be 10 times that amount "

because of underdiagnosis in teens and young adults,

Dr. Kris Bisgard, a CDC epidemiologist, said.

That's still a far cry from the 250,000 Americans who

once got pertussis annually before vaccinations began

in the 1940s. But it's far worse than 1980, when there

were only about 1,000 cases a year.

The biggest rise: CDC figures show for every 1 million

10- to 19-year-olds, three got pertussis in 1980 vs.

70 cases per million older children last year.

They in turn can infect vulnerable infants. Pertussis

rose 37% among babies in the 1990s, almost exclusively

among those younger than 4 months. That's when infants

get their second dose of pertussis vaccine, and

protection begins kicking in.

Today, Americans get their final dose of pertussis

vaccine by age 6.

Studies show that giving one-third of the youngster's

dose to teens and adults boosts their immunity nicely,

CDC's Bisgard said. Canadians already can get just

such a booster dose.

Americans can get booster doses of tetanus and

diphtheria vaccine every 10 years. (You call it a

tetanus shot, but the two almost always come

together.) The idea: Just add a pertussis booster to

that shot. After all, babies today get diphtheria,

tetanus and pertussis vaccine in the same shot, called

DTaP.

Aventis and a competitor, GlaxoKline, both are

studying boosters, Bisgard says, and experts expect

one will hit the market in about two years.

For now, what's the advice?

Keep infants away from people who have any cough

illness, Bisgard said — and make sure they're

vaccinated on time. DTaP doses are given at ages 2, 4

and 6 months, again at 15 to 18 months and a final

dose between 4 and 6 years.

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