Whooping cough shot urged for new moms

[Guest guest]

" says study co-author Tina Tan, a pediatrician and infectious disease specialist

at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine; says Tan, who has been

paid by vaccine makers Sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoKline to speak to doctors

about pertussis "

http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090121/UPDATES01/901210456

Whooping cough shot urged for new moms

By LIZ SZABO • USA TODAY • January 21, 2009

Doctors should routinely give all new mothers a vaccine to protect their

newborns from whooping cough, a sometimes deadly illness that has made a recent

comeback, according to a study in Wednesday's Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Although experts recommend that mothers receive the shot before taking their

babies home from the hospital, few women even know about the vaccine, which can

help protect unvaccinated infants, says study co-author Tina Tan, a pediatrician

and infectious disease specialist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School

of Medicine.

Newborns, who aren't vaccinated until they're 2 months old, are increasingly

vulnerable to whooping cough, or pertussis, which has made a comeback in recent

years as more parents opt out of vaccinating their kids, Tan says. While some

fear that childhood vaccines may contribute to autism, scientists say there is

ample proof that this isn't true.

It's clear, however, that about half of babies with whooping cough get the

illness from their parents, while an additional 25 percent to 35 percent get the

cough from another household member, Tan says.

Parents may not realize they have pertussis, which may to them resemble a bad

cough, says Remer Altmann, a spokeswoman for the American Academy of

Pediatrics who wasn't involved in this study. The disease is far more serious in

newborns.

In 2004-2005, 66 babies under age 1 died from whooping cough, including 56 who

were under 3 months old, Tan says.

And while providing a " cocoon " of protection around newborns can be lifesaving,

only about 2 percent of parents with babies in neonatal intensive care get the

shot, according to a recent study from the State University of New York-Stony

Brook.

Even people who received the shot as children can spread the disease, Tan says,

because the vaccine's immunity wears off after about six to eight years. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that adults get

revaccinated with a combination shot that prevents tetanus, diphtheria and

pertussis.

Few doctors mention the shot to their patients, says Tan, who has been paid by

vaccine makers Sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoKline to speak to doctors about

pertussis.

Altmann says she recommends the vaccine to the parents of all her newborn

patients, along with a flu shot in the fall and winter.

Yet while pediatricians can educate parents, they can't vaccinate them, says Ari

Brown, also a spokeswoman for the pediatrics academy. " I wish we could give

shots to the parents, but they are not our patients, " she says.