new pertussis vaccine approved in June

I had the strong urge to change the subject. So I did some research on the most recent pediatric medical advancement - the pertussis booster. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of pertussis diagnoses in both children and adults. While pertussis does cause significant illness in adults (ever had a lingering cough that lasts 6-8 weeks or longer?), it is of most concern for the infants exposed to it who are incompletely vaccinated. Here are some stats from Up-To-Date online (http://www.uptodate.com, subscription required):

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are currently 20 to 40 million cases of pertussis each year with 90 percent occurring in developing countries. In 1999, the disease was responsible for 295,000 reported deaths, most of which occurred in Africa and Southeast Asia [19]. The case fatality rate during the years 1990 to 1996 was 0.2 percent in the United States, with 84 percent of deaths occurring in children less than six months of age [20].
The introduction of widespread vaccination in the developed world in the 1940s resulted in a marked decline in the number of cases and deaths due to pertussis (show figure 1). The number of reported cases in the United States fell from approximately 200,000 per year prior to 1940 (approximately 155 cases per 100,000 population) to a historic low of 1,010 cases per year (approximately 0.5 cases per 100,000 population) in 1976 [17,21,22].
However, the incidence of pertussis has been increasing worldwide over the past 15 to 20 years, including in the United States (show figure 1) [17,19-22]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 7,867 cases in the United States in 2000, the highest rate since 1967 [20]. The increase in pertussis cases is supported by a surveillance study using a single serum anti-pertussis antibody assay in Massachusetts where the incidence of pertussis was 75 to 100 cases per 100,000 adolescents and at least 5 cases per 100,000 adults [23]. As pertussis is significantly underreported, the true incidence is probably much higher.

The Facts:
1. pertussis is on the rise
2. pertussis is dangerous to the smallest children
3. immunity to pertussis wanes over time so that immunity in adults is very low
4. infants and children get pertussis from adults with waning immunity

Now we can do something about it. Though it has not been commercially released yet the booster vaccine will be released soon. I realize that it seems far-fetched, but vaccinating adults will save babies lives. So, if you are a health care worker, or someone who cares for children, especially infants, ask your doctor about the booster pertussis vaccine. VACCINES SAVE LIVES!

P.S. In the near future it will be part of the vaccination schedule for adolescents.

Elizabeth McNeill Byrd, MDChristopher A Ohl, MD, Pathogenesis and epidemiology of Bordetella pertussis infection. Up-To-Date Online. February 2005.