Whooping Cough In The Vaccinated

Whooping Cough Increases 49% Since 1980’s In The Vaccinated Despite Increasing Number Of Shots

Reported cases of pertussis among adolescents and adults have increased since the 1980s, despite increasingly high rates of vaccination among infants and children. However, severe pertussis morbidity and mortality occur primarily among infants.

The incidence of reported cases of pertussis among infants increased 49% in the 1990s compared with the incidence in the 1980s (19 798 vs 12 550 cases reported; 51.1 cases vs 34.2 cases per 100 000 infant population, respectively). Increases in the incidence of cases and the number of deaths among infants during the 1990s primarily were among those aged 4 months or younger, contrasting with a stable incidence of cases among infants aged 5 months or older. The proportion of cases confirmed by bacterial culture was higher in the 1990s than in the 1980s (50% and 33%, respectively); the proportion of hospitalized cases was unchanged (67% vs 68%, respectively). Receipt of fewer doses of vaccine was associated with hospitalization, when cases were stratified by age in months.

(JAMA. 2003;290:2968-2975).

Despite High Vaccination Coverage Whooping Cough Is Endemic In The Netherlands

Despite the introduction of large-scale pertussis vaccination in 1953 and high vaccination coverage, pertussis is still an endemic disease in The Netherlands, with epidemic outbreaks occurring every 3-5 years.” One factor that might contribute to this is the ability of pertussis strains to adapt to vaccine-induced immunity, causing new strains of pertussis to re-emerge in this well-vaccinated population.

(Journal of Infectious Diseases, vol. 179, April 1999; 915-923).

One in Five Vaccinated Children Will Still Get Whooping Cough

Just recently, Dr. Kari Simonsen, a pediatrician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, USA, said one in five children who are vaccinated for whooping cough will still get the disease. She said efficacy of the vaccine was ‘comparatively low’, but said
‘It’s the best vaccine we can build to date.’
Despite admitting this, she still believes that parents should get the vaccine for their children.

At St. Robert Bellarmine School in west Omaha, 12 children had confirmed whooping cough, of those, most had been vaccinated.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services reported Thursday that the state has had 117 confirmed cases this year, up from 70 all of last year and 99 in 2006. There were 312 cases in Nebraska in 2005.

In Douglas County, 48 cases have been reported this year. Last year, 21 cases were reported.

This is in a country that gives five doses of the vaccine in the first four years of life and then another dose at 11 years of age!

(Omaha World Herald, ‘Vaccine Didn’t Stop Whooping Cough’, 31st October 2008).

Recently Vaccinated People Are Becoming Sick Anyway And Can Pass The Bacteria On To Others And Make Them Sick

Victor Plotkin – an epidemiologist from Lake County in the US has reported that there have been 82 cases of pertussis in the county so far this year.

‘Plotkin said the county did see very high numbers of cases during a nationwide outbreak of pertussis in 2004 and 2005. In 2004, there were 152 cases of pertussis and 135 cases in 2005. However, before that, pertussis cases in the county had averaged about 8 to 10 a year for many years.

Plotkin said the 2004 and 2005 pertussis outbreak appears that it may have been attributed to waning immunity among older children and adults who had not received booster shots. He said the most recent outbreak is a bit more puzzling because many of the children who are becoming ill are younger children who were recently vaccinated.

“Unfortunately, during this outbreak, even people that have been recently vaccinated are becoming sick anyway,” he said. “Their symptoms are milder, but they still can pass the bacteria along to others and make others sick.”

(Whooping Cough Increases in Lake County – the Vernon Hills Review 20th November 2008).

No Protection Is Demonstrable In Infants Following DPT

‘Calculations based on the mortality of whooping-cough before 1957 predict accurately the subsequent decline and the present low mortality… Incidence [is] unaffected either by small-scale vaccination beginning about 1948 or by nationwide vaccination beginning in 1957… No protection is demonstrable in infants.’

(The Lancet, vol. 1, January 29, 1977, pp. 234-7).

Whooping Cough Rise Despite 90% Vaccination Rate

TASMANIA is in the grip of the worst outbreak of whooping cough for at least a decade.

The Public and Environmental Health Service has been notified of 146 cases of the disease, which is potentially fatal, particularly for babies and young children.

Parents who have not had their children immunised have been advised to act immediately.

The outbreak, concentrated in the South of the state, represents more than double the number of cases for the whole of last year (56).

Director of Public Health Mark Jacobs said: “Most of the cases have occurred in July and August. The August notifications exceeded the total for last year.”

There have been 122 reported cases in the South, 16 in the North and eight in the North-West.

‘Our most recent figures show that about 90% of children are immunised by the time they reach their first birthday,” Dr Jacobs said.

9th September 1999 – The Mercury. Written by Sean Stevenson.

Whooping Cough Confirmed – All Of The Kids Were ‘Up To Date’ On Their DTAP Vaccinations

The San Juan Basin Health Department has reported four more individuals have been confirmed as having pertussis (whooping cough) and two more cases are considered probable. These new cases are scattered throughout the county, including one case in a Bayfield preschool.

Nearly half of the cases diagnosed have occurred in the four-six year old age group. All of these kids are “up to date” on Dtap vaccination but had not yet received the kindergarten dose. If your child is nearing age 15 months of age or 4 years of age and has not had their booster dose of Dtap, we recommend vaccinating them as soon as possible because the protection from DtaP vaccine diminishes over time.

Source: Pine River Times, 23rd January 2009.

VAN UK’s Comment: Children in the US get 4 doses of DTAP vaccine between the ages of 2 months and 18 months and another dose at 4 years old. The kid would have had their last vaccine only two or three years before and it still didn’t work?

13 Cases Of Whooping Cough In January In Kalamazoo

“We definitely have an outbreak going on,” said Buzas, “we’ve had 35 cases between September and the end of December.”

In fact, cases of pertussis have been steadily increasing for several years, and although there are some vague theories, no one is sure why.

“What we’re seeing though is children who are immunized, completely immunized, are getting pertussis,” said Buzas.

Source: WWMT.com news channel, 29 January 2009.

21 Cases Of Whooping Cough, All Were Vaccinated As Vaccine Wanes At Age 7 To 9

As of this afternoon, the health department had 21 confirmed cases of whooping cough, known formally as pertussis. There also were five probable cases of the contagious disease, and a half-dozen possible cases are under investigation.

Of the first dozen cases of pertussis, 10 were children at the Clinton Public School and another was a child who came into contact with someone from the Clinton school.

The infected children had been vaccinated, but the immunity to the vaccine can wane between ages 7 and 9 and there is no licensed vaccine for children in that age group.

Source: The Star Ledger, 11 February 2009, by Mike Frassinelli.

Whooping Cough In Suffolk County, US. Those Affected Were Vaccinated

The county health commissioner says whooping cough is highly contagious and symptoms can develop anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks, so parents need to be especially vigilant to help stop this from spreading countywide.

The warning comes after two students in the district have been diagnosed with the potentially fatal bacterial infection. The health department would only say they are elementary aged students and were being treated.

Chaudry said both students who contracted whooping cough had been immunized.

He suggested parents call their pediatricians about booster shots since it appears the vaccination is waning for an unknown reason. There are 70 to 80 cases every year in Suffolk County.

Source: WABC-TV, New York, 13 March 2009.

Whooping Cough Vaccine Not Working And New Strain Of Whooping Cough Emerging

Pertussis (whooping cough) is a potentially fatal respiratory disease caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Despite effective vaccination programs, there has been concern in some developed countries that pertussis cases are on the increase.,….. This supports a hypothesis that MLVA-27 is under some form of positive selection conferring increased survival in a highly vaccinated population.

Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2009, p. 680-688, Vol. 47, No. 3.

In Whooping Cough Epidemic, 17 out of 18 Cases Had Had FIVE Doses Of DTaP!

A cluster of whooping cough cases among Cobb County elementary students is adding to concerns that an important vaccine isn’t as effective as it needs to be to stop the spread of disease.

Of the 18 students in the recent Cobb cluster, 17 were properly immunized with five doses of DTaP vaccine, which protects against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, health officials said.

“Despite the fact that we routinely vaccinate against pertussis, pertussis is endemic. There’s lots of pertussis,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC’s meningitis and vaccine preventable diseases branch.

East Cobb parent Laurie Wood assumed her children were protected because they’d received all the shots. Then her 8-year-old son, Charlie, developed a cough so severe it caused him to vomit. In January, Charlie was diagnosed with pertussis.

“I was scared because he’s been vaccinated,” Wood said last week. “I also was mad because if the vaccination wasn’t working, we should have known about it.”

To try to determine the magnitude of the problem at the four Cobb schools, last month CDC and local health officials gave voluntary pertussis tests to 108 children and staff who were currently coughing, and 22 of them showed evidence of recent infection, said Julie Gabel, a state health department epidemiologist.

Despite the study’s test results, some doctors refused to believe parents when they said that their children had pertussis. “More than one said to the parent: ‘Well, your child couldn’t have had pertussis, your child’s been vaccinated,” Gabel said, adding that the department is working to educate physicians.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, by Alison Young, 22nd March 2009.

60 Whooping Cough Cases – All Were Vaccinated Except One

More than 60 cases of whooping cough have hit Muskingum County, so many that the Zanesville Muskingum County Health Department is calling it an epidemic.

They say the illness, also known as pertussis, has hit every public school district in the county.

Medical director at the health department Vicki Whitacre says they know why it seems to be hitting more 10 and 11 year olds than any other age group.

“We know that the reasoning this is happening is because the immunizations that they receive in kindergarten are starting to wear off,” said Whitacre. “All of the parents of children we’ve talked to have had their immunizations except one.”

The article goes on to say:

Children who have been diagnosed with the illness will have their own natural immunity for four to five years.

Babies also need to get their immunizations, they aren’t safe from it until their booster shot at 15 months.

Source: whiznews.com, by Audry Kensicki. 23rd April 2009.

VAN UK’S Comment: US children have 4 doses of DTaP before 18 months and another dose at 5 years, so if they’re getting whooping cough at 10, that is only ‘lasting’ for 5 years.

When you get the natural disease, you are immune for life, not 4 to 5 years, and this was probably stated so that readers don’t realise they are swapping lifelong immunity for 5 years with the vaccine.

If children aren’t ‘protected’ till 15 months, then the vaccine is a waste of time. Whooping cough doesn’t kill infants over 1 year unless they have other illnesses too, and the most dangerous time is the first 6 months of life.

Over 73% of Whooping Cough Cases Occured In People Vaccinated With At Least One Dose Of Vaccine

Abstract

Although vaccination coverage is high in Catalonia, Spain, pertussis is still a significant cause of morbidity and mortality among infants, overall due to adolescent and adult contacts. An epidemiological study from voluntary health care centres to detect confirmed pertussis cases was carried out in Catalonia. From 465 pertussis-suspect-cases, we identified 126 confirmed events, 73 of them confirmed by laboratory tests. Most of cases were infants less than 4 months old 23 (18.3%), adolescents 22 (17.4%) and adults 46 (36.5%). Sixty-one cases (49.6%) presented paroxysmal cough, 33 (26.8%) post-tussive vomiting and inspiratory whoop, and 27 (22%) apnoea. The vaccination status was not known for 46 (36.5%) patients. Of the total vaccine status documented, 59 (73.8%) patients had received at least one dose. Sixty patients (47.6%) were considered index cases, 32 of them (53.3%) were children under 1-year old. Among contacts identified as pertussis cases, 63.6% (42/66) were older than 14 years of age. These contacts were parents (30), siblings (19), grandmother (4), and others (13). These results confirm protective efficacy of pertussis vaccine only during few time. Regular pertussis boosters in teenagers, and/or in adults who take care of young children, could decrease the incidence of the infection.

Source: Vaccine, Volume 27, Issues 25-26, 26 May 2009, Pages 3489-3491

 Re-emergence of Pertussis In Slovenia

Despite high vaccination coverage for many decades, reported incidence has increased recently, to the highest incidence of 27.5/100,000 in 2006, a 6.5-times increase in comparison to the previous year. Marked shift in age distribution among reported cases was observed in recent years. In 2006, reported age-specific incidence was relatively high in children 8–12 years old, the highest among 9 years old. Similar to other countries, where children are given pre-school boosters, we also have to consider the revision of the national vaccination policy. A booster dose at school entrance or latest at 8 years of age should be introduced to decrease the transmission of disease among school children and to further reduce the burden of disease among infants.

Source: Vaccine,
Volume 26, Issue 15, 28 March 2008, Pages 1874-1878.

Pertussis – A Re-emerging Infection? – ‘It appears that herd immunity does not offer adequate protection to the vulnerable group even in well-vaccinated populations. ‘

Seven cases of pertussis in patients aged between 1 and 6 months detected over 3 months were reported. Paroxysmal cough (six cases), post-tussive vomiting (three cases) and poor feeding (three cases) were the most common presenting symptoms. Bordetella pertussis was isolated from six patients. The total leucocyte counts were mildly increased (10.8–15.6×109/L). The lymphocyte counts were markly raised (59–73%) and appear to be useful indicators of pertussis. It appears that herd immunity does not offer adequate protection to the vulnerable group even in well-vaccinated populations.

Source: Journal of Infection, Volume 48, Issue 2, February 2004, Pages 145-148

Incidence of pertussis in vaccinated and unvaccinated children: Report of 100 cases followed in a child health clinic

This report was from 1955 and unfortunately I am unable to read the full report due to having to purchase it, but the summary says:

It would appear from this study that pertussis is not an uncommon disease and that even in vaccinated children it continues to occur. It may be that the diagnosis is not being made either because of its atypical mild form at the present time or because it is cured by one of the broad-spectrum antibiotics before its full symptomatology erupts.’

So it would appear the report is saying there is just as much whooping cough in the vaccinated as in the unvaccinated and since this dates back to 1955, the DPT vaccine never worked.

Source: The Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 47, Issue 6, December 1955, Pages 716-719

The incidence of Bordetella pertussis infections estimated in the population from a combination of serological surveys

Objectives

Bordetella pertussis circulates even in highly vaccinated populations. There is a considerable amount of infection in adults. For designing more effective vaccination schedules it is important to quantify the age-dependent relation between the number of notified cases and the number of infections.
Methods

We used a statistical relationship between the time since infection and the IgG antibody titers against pertussis toxin, derived from a longitudinal data set, to estimate time since infection for all individuals in a cross-sectional population-based study (1995–1996) based on their titers. Age-specific incidence of infection with B. pertussis was calculated and compared with the age-distribution of notified cases of pertussis in 1994–1996.
Results

Estimated incidence of infection was 6.6% per year for 3–79-year olds, annual incidence of notified cases 0.01%. Estimated age-specific incidence of infection was lowest for 3–4-year olds (3.3%) and increased gradually up to the age of 20–24 years (10.8%). The number of notified cases was highest for 3–9-year olds.

Source: Journal of Infection, Volume 53, Issue 2, August 2006, Pages 106-113.

The relationship between pertussis symptomatology, incidence and serology in adolescents – A Lot Of Teenagers Are Getting Whooping Cough And Going Undiagnosed

Adolescents have an unknown true incidence of pertussis and are important reservoirs of transmission. We evaluated the incidence of coughing illnesses, serologic evidence of recent infection and the relationship between symptomatology and serology in adolescents. A retrospective respiratory questionnaire and anti-pertussis toxin immunoglobulin G measurement was undertaken in a convenience sample of adolescents and was repeated one year later. The US Centers for Disease Control clinical case definition of pertussis was used. At least a third of coughing illnesses met the CDC clinical case definition. Symptoms correlated with serology. Pertussis was endemic with a high annual incidence of new infections.

Source: Vaccine,
Volume 26, Issue 44, 16 October 2008, Pages 5547-5553.

Whooping Cough Still Common Even In The Fully Vaccinated

Whooping cough is a common respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. It should be considered as a possible diagnosis in any adolescent or adult with an acute cough of more than two weeks’ duration, even if they have been fully immunised.

A 17 year old girl presents with a three week history of cough. The cough keeps her awake at night and she has bouts of coughing that disturb her classmates. She is fully immunised. Her general practitioner requests serology for anti-pertussis toxin IgG antibodies, which are found to be raised, indicating a recent infection with Bordetella pertussis.

In the post-vaccination era, whooping cough is under-recognised in primary care as the incidence is incorrectly thought to be low.

Source: BMJ 2009;338:b1772

Whooping Cough Case In A Fully Vaccinated Student

State health officials have confirmed a case of whooping cough at Eastern Alamance High School.

Alamance Burlington school officials learned of the case Friday afternoon and are working together to get students’ parents up to speed.

“We’re able to make contact with those individuals that were in those classrooms as well as those who may have been exposed to the student while riding the school bus,” said Eric Nickens, Alamance County Health Dept. spokesman.

Nickens estimates as many as 100 children may have been exposed to the sick student in the last few weeks, either in the classroom or on a school bus shared with Woodlawn middle school students. The last day of school was Wednesday and employees are cleaning classrooms to disinfect.

“We’ve actually wiped down in the buses, so we have taken some precautions there too,” said Caron Myers, Alamance Burlington Schools System spokeswoman.

The confirmed Alamance case comes as Guilford County’s Health Dept. is offering free TDAP (Tetanus, Diphtheria and Pertussis) vaccination shots. The vaccine protects children from whooping cough and is mandatory for all rising sixth graders.

Myers said the child with whooping cough was up to date on his vaccinations, including TDAP.

Source: Fox 8 News, 13th June 2009.

VAN UK’S Comment: It’s ridiculous to say that pertussis vaccine protects against pertussis and then say the child was fully vaccinated!

3 Cases of Whooping Cough, All Were Vaccinated

Three more area students have been diagnosed with whooping cough, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency announced Wednesday.

A 5-year-old at Solana Beach Presbyterian Preschool, an 11-year old at Skyline Elementary and a 14-year-old who goes to Earl Warren Junior High are being treated for the disease, according to the HHSA.

All of the schools are in Solana Beach.

On Tuesday, the HHSA announced that a 5-year-old at Pioneer Elementary School in Escondido also had whooping cough.

HHSA and school officials are working to notify the parents of students who may have been exposed.

“It is not unexpected to see whooping cough in our community,” said Dr. Dean Sidelinger, the county’s deputy public health officer. “Parents need to make sure their children are immunized to protect against vaccine-preventable diseases.”

All of the infected children had been vaccinated.

There were 51 cases of whooping cough reported in the county last year. So far this year, there have been 30 cases.

Source: 10news.com, 10th June 2009.

Child Gets Whooping Cough After FIVE Vaccines

A 5-year-old kindergarten student at Pioneer Elementary School is recovering from pertussis, or whooping cough, health officials said Tuesday.

The child developed the bacterial disease even after receiving the recommended five-part course of vaccinations, officials said. County Public Heath Officer Wilma Wooten explained that while the whooping cough vaccine greatly reduces the risk of developing the illness, no vaccine is 100 percent effective.

Source: North County Times, 9th June 2009.

Atypical Pertussis in Fully Vaccinated Children

From October 2005 to March 2006, a laboratory-confirmed outbreak of pertussis occurred in preschool-aged children (1-4 years) in Toronto, Canada. A case-control study in children was done to identify the risk factors for being positive for Bordetella pertussis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

The main risk factors for PCR positivity for B. pertussis were school or day care attendance. Atypical symptoms were likely moderated by high immunization rates or may have been caused by other respiratory pathogens. In some cases, a positive PCR result might simply have reflected transient nasopharyngeal carriage of B. pertussis.

Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal:
July 2009 – Volume 28 – Issue 7 – pp 582-587

New Form of Pertussis in Highly Vaccinated Population

Bordetella pertussis isolates not expressing Pertussis Toxin (PT) or Pertactin (PRN) have been collected, for the first time in 2007, in France, a highly vaccinated country with acellular vaccines. Non-expression was due to deletion of the entire ptx locus, to IS481 insertion in the prn gene or deletion of a part of this gene. Genome sequencing does not indicate any regions of differences when compared to other circulating isolates. It nevertheless shows some sequence differences and an increased number of repeated sequences. The infant infected by the isolate not expressing pertussis toxin, did not present hyperlymphocytosis. All isolates were found less pathogen in animal or cellular models; their circulation raises the problem of clinical and biological diagnoses.

Source: Vaccine, Volume 27, Issue 43, 9 October 2009, Pages 6034-6041.

Whooping Cough in Fully Vaccinated Child

A 4-year-old child who attends La Jolla Children’s Learning Lab at has been diagnosed with pertussis, commonly known as whooping cough, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) announced Tuesday.

The student was up-to-date on immunizations.

Source: Del Mar Times, 1 December 2009.

Pertussis is Increasing in Highly Vaccinated Populations

Context Reported cases of pertussis among adolescents and adults have increased since the 1980s, despite increasingly high rates of vaccination among infants and children. However, severe pertussis morbidity and mortality occur primarily among infants.

Objective To describe the trends and characteristics of reported cases of pertussis among infants younger than 12 months in the United States from 1980 to 1999.

Design, Setting, and Participants Cases of pertussis in infants younger than 12 months in the United States reported to the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1980 and 1999, and detailed case data from the Supplementary Pertussis Surveillance System.

Main Outcome Measures Incidence and demographic and clinical characteristics of cases.

Results The incidence of reported cases of pertussis among infants increased 49% in the 1990s compared with the incidence in the 1980s (19 798 vs 12 550 cases reported; 51.1 cases vs 34.2 cases per 100 000 infant population, respectively). Increases in the incidence of cases and the number of deaths among infants during the 1990s primarily were among those aged 4 months or younger, contrasting with a stable incidence of cases among infants aged 5 months or older.

Source: JAMA. 2003;290:2968-2975

Baby Had First ‘Immunisation’, Ended up in Hospital With Whooping Cough

This article was a pro-vaccine article blaming whooping cough on unvaccinated children, but it said:

Natalie Larkin of Beaumont said her 3½-month-old daughter, Kate, had cold symptoms for a week before whooping cough was diagnosed. Kate, who had undergone her first immunisation, ended up in hospital for four days.

“It’s scary.. They choke,” she said.

If they actually looked at the status of those infected, they would find that the majority are partially or completely vaccinated or they are adults who were fully vaccinated as children.

Source: Adelaide Now, 5 November 2009.

New Form of Pertussis Caused By Acellular Pertussis Vaccine

THE bacteria that causes whooping cough in Australia has mutated, scientists have warned, eroding the protection provided by the vaccine now given to children.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales have identified significant changes in the two most common strains of the Bordetella pertussis bacteria, which they also traced back to events in the late 1990s.

Australian children were given a broad-acting “whole cell” vaccination against whooping cough up to 1997, but this was phased out over two years and replaced with a more targeted version. Concerns over potential side-effects were behind the change over to a vaccine with a narrower scope, but this now appears to have contributed to the promotion of resistant strains.

“A key issue is that the whole cell vaccine contained hundreds of antigens, which gave broad protection against many strains of pertussis,” said Associate Professor Ruiting Lan of the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences.

“But the (targeted) acellular vaccine contains only three to five antigens.

“Our findings suggest that the use of the acellular vaccine may be one factor contributing to these genetic changes.”

The research team analysed more than 200 samples of the bacterium collected over the past 40 years in Australia, and these were compared with samples from Japan, Canada, USA and Finland.

They found while the vaccine now in use was effective against some of the strains circulating in Australia it may no longer protect against two strains, known as MT27 and MT70.

Dr Lan said more research was needed to confirm the results but health authorities may need to modify the vaccine to broaden the protection it offered, “or over time it could lose effectiveness as the organism evolves”.

The discovery comes amid an increase in whooping cough cases in Australia, with several significant outbreaks seen last year in western Sydney.

Source: news.com.au, 10 February 2010.

Whooping Cough in Vaccinated Student

School officials announced this week that a fourth grade student at Meadow Pond Elementary School had been diagnosed with pertussis, also known as whooping cough. While the district emphasized that “there was no cause for alarm,” a letter to parents on Monday encouraged them to contact their child’s doctor if the child develops a persistent cough.

While most children receive vaccines against pertussis, in some people vaccines may not work.

According to the district, the child at Meadow Pond was infected despite their vaccination.

Source: Lewisboroledger.com, 24 February 2010.

Whooping Cough Due to Vaccine Waning

Central Texas doctors are seeing a surge in the number of children coming down with whooping cough.

In total, the Austin-Travis County Health and Human Services Department said nearly 500 cases of whooping cough, which starts out with symptoms similar to a cold, have been confirmed or considered probable cases.

“It can be a very severe illness, and that’s why it’s really important to stay on top of this and prevent the spread,” Austin-Travis County Medical Director Dr. Philip Huang said.

Of the 200 confirmed or probable cases of pertussis reported in Williamson County this year, the majority are kids in school.

No deaths have occurred this year in our area as a result of the increase, but Jennifer Jackson, with the Williamson County and Cities Health District, said unvaccinated or under-vaccinated infants are at high risk of becoming seriously ill if they contract the infection through the air.

“Going into this year we’re seeing many more cases,” Jackson said.

Eanes Independent School District sent home a letter to parents of children attending Barton Creek Elementary School this week, notifying them that a couple of students had contracted the infection. A similar letter was sent to Westlake High School parents right before spring break.

One pediatric physician at Dell Children’s Medical Center said he’s seen about 200 cases since the middle of February.

“Kids who are getting vaccinated, as they get older, we used to think didn’t need any routine booster or re-immunization. Now, we’re finding out that they do. And so consequently, the kids 10-14 years old are able to get pertussis and consequently spreading it to younger children,” Dr. Robert Vezzetti said.

Local doctors said they have also seen a trend in adults, with milder symptoms, spreading the infection to children.

“If you have a 30-year-old or 40-year-old adult, they can easily get pertussis and their symptoms may not be as severe necessarily,” he said.

Source: News 8 Austin, 24 March 2010.

Evidence of Bordetella pertussis infection in vaccinated 1-year-old Danish children.

We measured IgA and IgG antibodies to pertussis toxin (PT) and filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) in sera from 203 1-year-old children who had received one to three doses of a monocomponent PT toxoid vaccine. Ten children (5%) had IgA antibody to PT indicating recent infection; seven of these children had received three doses of vaccine. PT IgA responders did not have significantly longer coughing episodes than PT IgA non-responders. Since an IgA antibody response occurs in only approximately 50% of infected children, the actual infection rate in our cohort is estimated to approximately 10%. The apparent high Bordetella pertussis infection rate in Danish infants suggests that the monocomponent PT toxoid vaccine used in Denmark has limited efficacy against B. pertussis infection. A prospective immunization study comparing a multi-component vaccine with the present monocomponent PT toxoid vaccine should be undertaken.

Source: Eur J Pediatr. 2010 Apr 8. [Epub ahead of print

Whooping Cough outbreak Due to Vaccine Waning

KTSP.com in Minneapolis/St. Paul has reported an outbreak of pertussis in schools in Wright County.

There have been 46 cases so far primarily in students from Maple Lake Elementary and St. Timothy’s Catholic School.

Most cases are in 5th and 6th graders and the outbreak may be due to waning immunity from vaccinations received when they were toddlers. Booster shots are given to 7th graders.

Source: The Examiner, 14th May 2010.

Whooping Cough Remains a Threat Despite Vaccine

Baby Dies of Whooping Cough after Catching it from Dad Who Was Vaccinated as a Baby

Whooping cough has made a comeback, and right now California is in the midst of its worst outbreak in half a century with 3,600 cases and eight deaths.

Last year, Texas had 3,358 cases of the pertussis disease, which is also the most in fifty years. Three deaths were reported.

“Pertussis itself is a very bad bug, it is highly contagious,” said UT Health Pediatrician Jason Sanders.

Doctors say the increase is due partly because the series of pertussis vaccinations you get as a child, does not provide lifetime immunity. The vaccine wears off by about age 12.

That’s what happened to the Throgmorton family.

In 2003, Haleigh Throgmorton came into the world a little ahead of schedule, so her father delivered her at home near Amarillo. Five-and-a-half weeks later Haleigh died from pertussis.

“It was a shock, I mean we were floored that that’s what it was, because it was something you never thought of being around anymore,” said Jerri Lynn Throgmorton, the baby’s mother.

Rodney Throgmorton, who hadn’t been immunized since childhood, got whooping cough at age 34 and then unknowingly passed it on to his newborn.

“By the time she passed away I had had the disease for a month, and coughing for a month,” he said.

The disease is uncomfortable for adults, but can be deadly for infants under 6 months old, who haven’t been fully immunized.

That’s why in 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved
a whooping cough booster for everyone over age 11.

But there is another side to this story that is far more controversial.

Some doctors wonder if the actions of some parents are partly to blame for the rise of the disease. A growing number of them have decided not to vaccinate their children.

Rebecca Rex is among those parents.

“I’m fully aware of the risk we’ve taken and the consequences of those risks if they don’t go well,” she said.

Her two sons, ages 17 and 11, have never been vaccinated
and she said they have never gotten whooping cough.

Rex is the co-founder of Parents Requesting Open Vaccine Education, or PROVE. She says there is evidence that vaccines can have dangerous side effects.

“I’m not telling a parent to vaccinate or not, I am telling a parent to go out and do as much research as they can — of information that is not hysterical,” Rex said.

11News checked with the Centers For Disease Control and found they have what’s called the Adverse Vaccine Reporting System. We found reports where people said that within minutes, or hours of getting the pertussis vaccine, they suffered from either abdominal pain, nausea, seizures or rashes. And in rare cases, some children died.

Source: Kvue.com, 10th September 2010.

85.9% of Children in Whooping Cough Outbreak Were Vaccinated

Abstract

Objective To estimate the proportion of school age children with a persistent cough who have evidence of a recent Bordetella pertussis infection.

Design Prospective cohort study (October 2001 to March 2005).

Setting General practices in Oxfordshire, England.

Participants 172 children aged 5-16 years who presented to their general practitioner with a cough lasting 14 days or more who consented to have a blood test.

Main outcome measures Serological evidence of a recent Bordetella pertussis infection; symptoms at presentation; duration and severity of cough; sleep disturbance (parents and child).

Results 64 (37.2%, 95% confidence interval 30.0% to 44.4%) children had serological evidence of a recent Bordetella pertussis infection; 55 (85.9%) of these children had been fully immunised. At presentation, children with whooping cough were more likely than others to have whooping (odds ratio 2.85, 95% confidence interval 1.39 to 5.82), vomiting (4.35, 2.04 to 9.25), and sputum production (2.39, 1.14 to 5.02). Children with whooping cough were also more likely to still be coughing two months after the start of their illness (85% v 48%; P = 0.001), continue to have more than five coughing episodes a day (P = 0.049), and cause sleep disturbance for their parents (P = 0.003).

Conclusions For school age children presenting to primary care with a cough lasting two weeks or more, a diagnosis of whooping cough should be considered even if the child has been immunised. Making a secure diagnosis of whooping cough may prevent inappropriate investigations and treatment.

Source: http://www.bmj.com/content/333/7560/174.abstract

17 Cases of Whooping Cough, All Were Fully Vaccinated

A rise in the number of pertussis cases in the area has hit two Orange County elementary schools particularly hard.

“We had 11 cases 2 weeks ago. Now we have 17,” said Gene Kotulka, director of student services for the school system.

Kotulka said tests on four other students Friday came back negative, “but it comes in waves, so we may see more.”

All of the affected students attend either Lightfoot Elementary or Unionville Elementary, which are near each other on U.S. 522. According to Kotulka, all the students have been vaccinated.

Source: fredericksburg.com, 22nd November 2010.

Stop Blaming Parents Who Don’t Vaccinate for Whooping Cough, Your Vaccines DON’T WORK!

Imperfect vaccine-induced immunity and whooping cough transmission to infants

Abstract
Whooping cough, caused by B. pertussis and B. parapertussis, has increased in incidence throughout much of the developed world since the 1980s despite high vaccine coverage, causing an increased risk of infection in infants who have substantial disease-induced mortality. Duration of immunity and epidemically significant routes of transmission across age groups remain unclear and deserve further investigation to inform vaccination strategies to better control pertussis burden. The authors analyze age- and species-specific whooping cough tests and vaccine histories in Massachusetts from 1990 to 2008. On average, the disease-free duration is 10.5 years. However, it has been decreasing over time, possibly due to a rising force of infection through increased circulation. Despite the importance of teenage cases during epidemics, wavelet analyses suggest that they are not the most important source of transmission to infants. In addition, the data indicate that the B. pertussis vaccine is not protective against disease induced by B. parapertussis.

Source: Vaccine, Volume 29, Issue 1, 10 December 2010, Pages 11-16.

Whooping Cough Vaccine Not Working: New Strain of Pertussis Developing

Matthew Jacob Bryce was born a healthy 8 pounds, 9 ounces on Oct 11, 2010, so when he showed signs of a cold at just two weeks, his parents knew something more might be wrong. They were not first-time parents.

“He was just really stuffy. He was having difficulty breathing,” Marlon Bryce, Matthew’s father, recalled.

The doctor suspected whooping cough, although everyone in the house had been vaccinated. For Marlon and Cindy Bryce, a young couple who had met in San Diego when both were in the Navy, it was a terrible prospect. Whooping cough, known also as pertussis, can be fatal in babies.

The doctor took a nasal swab, and started the infant on antibiotics.

It took six days to get the lab results. Matthew, at 23 days old, had pertussis.

California is experiencing its worst whooping cough outbreak in more than 60 years. Thousands of people have gotten sick and 10 infants have died, including two in San Diego County.

Health officials across the country are trumpeting pertussis vaccinations, but a four-month investigation by KPBS and the Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit investigative center based at San Diego State University, has found that many people who have come down with whooping cough have been immunized.

Two of the world’s most respected experts on the disease disagree about why there are such high numbers of people who are getting sick. Dr. James Cherry, a prominent researcher at UCLA, says increased awareness of whooping cough has led to more reports of it. However, Dr. Fritz Mooi, a well-known Dutch scientist who has been studying mutations of the pertussis bacteria for 15 years, says a more virulent strain of bacteria is contributing to outbreaks.

KPBS and the institute have been asking about the possibility of more virulent whooping cough strains for months, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced studies of the disease, and the bacteria causing it, in California and Ohio. Two members of the California study group said it was prompted by the increasing death toll and KPBS-institute inquiries.

Officials from the CDC, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and two pertussis experts from UCLA held a conference call Oct. 13 to discuss studying whether a more virulent strain was responsible for infant deaths and is contributing to the current epidemic. That same day, whooping cough claimed the life of its tenth newborn in California.

Dr. Jeff Miller, a scientist involved in the study at UCLA, said the possibility that the pertussis bacterium has mutated “is an important hypothesis to test.” He added, “I wish we would have started it in 2005.”

Mooi, the scientist who has been studying the bacterial mutations, said his research has been ignored by those who influence public policy on pertussis in the U.S. and beyond, in part because they rely on vaccine makers to fund their meetings and research.

There is little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to pursue a new vaccine because it would cost billions, he said. The circulation of a more virulent strain of pertussis could mean a new vaccine should be created.

VideoAbove: Dr. Frits Mooi is a scientist with The Netherlands Center for Infectious Diseases Control. Mooi says his research suggests there is “mis-match” between the current pertussis vaccine and a new more virulent strain of the disease which is now circulating.
In examining the pertussis epidemic, KPBS and the Watchdog Institute collected federal, state and county statistics and consulted and interviewed experts from Los Angeles to the Netherlands.

Key findings include:

• For pertussis cases in which vaccination histories are known, between 44 and 83 percent were of people who had been immunized, according to data from nine California counties with high infection rates. In San Diego County, more than two thirds of the people in this group were up to date on their immunizations.

• Health officials in Ohio and Texas, two states also experiencing whooping cough outbreaks, report that of all cases, 75 and 67.5 percent, respectively, reported having received a pertussis vaccination.

• Today, the rate of disease in some California counties is as high as 139 per 100,000, rivaling rates before vaccines were developed.

• Public officials around the world rely heavily on two groups of pertussis experts when setting vaccine policy relating to the disease. Both groups, and many of their members, receive money from the two leading manufacturers of pertussis vaccine.

Pertussis is a highly contagious respiratory illness that may mimic a cold for the first 10 days. It then can produce a violent and persistent cough with a unique “whooping” sound.

For adults, pertussis may only be a nuisance, like a bad cold. But to infants it can be deadly because they can’t cough up what collects in their lungs and infections can spread.

Vaccinations nearly wiped out whooping cough more than 30 years ago, but it has made a vengeful comeback in California and other highly vaccinated communities around the U.S.

While public health officials and scientists agree that vaccines are still the best available tool against pertussis, they argue over how effective they are with time and in the face of a possible increase in virulence.

Dr. Mark Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health, said health officials expect to see a certain percentage of people who have been vaccinated contracting whooping cough. He says no vaccine is 100 percent effective, and those who are immunized and getting sick are likely those for whom the vaccine did not work or whose immunity has waned.

“That’s no surprise to us,” he said, “nor is it a reflection on the efficacy of the vaccine.”

Mooi, who heads the Pertussis Surveillance Project at the National Institute of Health in the Netherlands, said an epidemic in 1996 in his country gave the need for research more urgency.

“And we found really a kind of new mutation in that bug,” Mooi said.

In tests, Mooi’s lab found the mutated strain produced more toxins, which could make people sicker.

At the Bryces’ home in Chula Vista, Marlon, who is 31 and a contract specialist at the Naval Medical Center, and Cindy, 27, puzzle over how Matthew could have contracted pertussis. He hadn’t been out of the house much, they said.

Their other boys Jordan, 4, and Joshua, 3, were up to date on their vaccinations. Marlon had gotten his a month before Matthew was born. Cindy was immunized before leaving the hospital after giving birth.

Marlon clearly remembers Cindy’s call when she learned Matthew had whooping cough. “She was crying … The moment that I heard it, I immediately started thinking the worst. You’ve heard the news about the babies that have passed away … Why is this happening?”

Marlon is soft-spoken and thoughtful.

“The one thing I would want to know is: Is the vaccine working? Is it as effective? … I thought that if I did everything I was told to do that our sons would be protected,” Marlon said.

The bacterium that causes whooping cough was first identified in 1906, when the illness was a common cause of death in infants and young children.

The discovery lead to the first attempts at a vaccine, but it wasn’t until the late 1940s, when the rate of disease was around 157 cases per 100,000 population, that scientists developed a vaccine effective enough to prevent pertussis. By the 1970s, the pertussis infection rate had dropped to less than one per 100,000.

But the vaccine, made of whole bacterial cells killed in labs, had side effects, such as prolonged crying spells in babies and seizures.

By 1996, the FDA approved a new whooping cough vaccine: an acellular version, which uses only purified components of the disease-causing organism. It is considered safer than the whole-cell vaccine and is the only one used in the U.S. today.

Just as the vaccines were changing, health officials across the country were reporting increasing numbers of whooping cough cases. According to a CDC report, most of the children four years old and younger who got whooping cough nationwide between 1990 and 1996 were not fully immunized.

That trend appears to have reversed in California’s latest outbreak.

KPBS and the Watchdog Institute requested information from 19 California counties most affected by pertussis. Nine counties supplied pertussis case information and vaccination history. In all but Stanislaus County, more than half the people sick with whooping cough had been immunized.

As of the end of October, and in cases where immunization history was known, data showed 83 percent of the people with whooping cough in Fresno had been vaccinated. In San Luis Obispo, 76 percent were up to date on their immunizations. In San Diego, 68 percent were up to date.

Public health experts say the surge of the disease is cyclical, with increased diagnoses every two to five years.

“And that tells us bordatella pertussis is circulating today exactly as it did in the prevaccine era,” Cherry said. “The main reason is increased awareness,” he explained. “People, particularly public health people, are much more aware, and that trickles down.”

Cherry and Mooi agree that immunity provided by vaccines wanes over time. But, they disagree over how long immunity lasts, and whether a mutated strain of pertussis is exploiting waning immunity.

Dr. James Cherry says there is no evidence current whooping cough vaccines are less effective then they were 15 years ago.
Drug package inserts included with the two most common pertussis vaccines in the U.S. state they are 85 percent effective. Cherry, who was involved in the efficacy studies when the vaccines were licensed by the FDA, estimates the efficacy is between 70 and 80 percent. Mooi said there’s no way to know how effective the vaccines are because they haven’t been tested against the new strain.

“The vaccines have less efficacy than many people believe,” Mooi said.

Public health agencies recommend five vaccine doses by age 6, and they recommend adults get a booster every 10 years. The California state legislature passed a law in September requiring all children entering middle school to receive a pertussis booster.

Cherry advocates booster shots. Mooi isn’t so sure adult boosters are cost effective. Both agree that the current vaccine offers the best protection against the disease, especially for families with an infant in the house.

In the long run, Mooi says there should be better vaccines.

Money should be spent studying today’s strains and making a vaccine that would work against them, Mooi said. “After all, every year we have a new flu vaccine, so, I think we should have something like that for bacterial vaccines, too,” he said.

Cherry believes a new, better vaccine is a long way off.

“I think the likelihood of the logistics of getting a new vaccine right now in this country is almost impossible, because of the FDA rules and requirements,” he said. “There’s a lot of things you could do (to improve current vaccines), but to get it approved would cost billions of dollars.”

Cindy and Marlon Bryce were certainly aware of the deadly nature of whooping cough. Six weeks in October and November were harrowing for them. Today, their routine is more normal. Matthew has started day care.

“The one thing I would want to say to parents is watch your kids, just be concerned,” Marlon said. “At first we thought we were being overprotective. But I’m glad we were.”

He continued, “I would just hope that there is something we can do about this. If there’s something that we can do, if there’s something that the scientists who look at these things every day, if they think that there’s a better way to do this, if there’s a way that they can improve this vaccine, then please. I would support it.”

Source:KPBS, by Joanne Faryon and Kevin Crowe, Watchdog Institute, 14th December 2010.

 Pertussis Spread to Neonates by ‘Immunised’ Staff

The highly transmissible nature of pertussis has been highlighted by an incident at a Sydney maternity hospital in which a fully-immunised nurse infected four neonates.

Described this week in Communicable Diseases Intelligence, the incident shows that extra vigilance is needed in healthcare staff working with newborns, in whom any coughing illness must be suspected to be pertussis, say the report authors.

Source: 6Minutes of interesting stuff for doctors today, 31st January 2011. http://www.6minutes.com.au/news/pertussis-spread-to-neonates-by-immunised-staff

When Immunity Fails – up to 83% of Whooping Cough Epidemic Sufferers are Vaccinated

For the past four months, KPBS and the Watchdog Institute have tracked the whooping cough epidemic across California and other affected states. In an effort to better understand who is getting sick, we examined data from San Diego County Health and Human Services agency that contained immunization history for each person diagnosed with pertussis. In September, KPBS reported that almost two-thirds of the people diagnosed with pertussis in San Diego County had been up to date on their immunizations. The figure surprised local health officials.

The institute then requested similar information from the California Department of Public Health. Each local health jurisdiction is responsible for reporting detailed information on probable pertussis cases to the state health department. The department keeps track of the information electronically and submits it to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In September, we received the state’s data on pertussis cases, and found it was not up to date and was missing information. For example, the immunization history was marked “unknown” for more than 60 percent of the cases. The state’s figures for San Diego County also didn’t match what the county had given us. We asked the state about the discrepancies, and officials responded that if we wanted timely and accurate information, we should ask each county’s health department.

Within days, we began requesting immunization history information from counties that reported high numbers of cases of pertussis. Of the 19 contacted, nine responded with immunization information. Officials from the other counties said they either didn’t have the data, or they cited patient privacy in withholding it.

The institute’s analysis of the data provided showed that in cases where immunization history is known between 44 and 83 percent of the people diagnosed with whooping cough had been vaccinated.

A more recent set of data from the state showed the California Department of Public Health still does not have immunization history information for almost 70 percent of the reported cases. However, in cases where immunization history is known, 83 percent of the people diagnosed with pertussis had been immunized.

To better understand the current epidemic, reporters for KPBS and the Watchdog Institute traveled to Los Angeles, Sacramento and the Netherlands to interview the world’s leading experts on pertussis, health officials and vaccine experts. They also reviewed recent studies done on pertussis, interviewed local families about their experiences with the disease and filed California Public Records Act and federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for information on the epidemic and efforts to respond to it.

The CDC recently stopped answering questions about ongoing studies of whooping cough and its response to outbreaks nationwide. The CDC still has not produced records in response to a FOIA request the institute filed in September for information relating to past whooping cough epidemics.

Source: Watchdog Institute, 17th December 2010.

Levels of Pertussis Antibodies Very Low in ‘Immunized’ Children Aged 2-20

Background: This multicenter study was undertaken to investigate the serologic evidence of antibodies to Bordetella pertussis toxin (IgG-PT) in children and adolescents.

Methods: IgG-PT value in a single serum collected from 1616 children and adolescents was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-units per milliliter from November 2008 to October 2009. The relationship between time since infection and IgG anti-PT levels were analyzed and the estimated age-specific incidences of infection were calculated.

Results: The sera IgG-PT geometric mean concentrations of the samples were 1.7 FDA-U/mL. The sera protective rates of all the subjects were 6.6% (95% confidential interval [CI]: 5.4%, 7.8%). The rates in the group aged 2 years was 9.2% (95% CI: 3.5%, 14.9%), which was significantly higher than in those aged >=3 years ([chi]2 = 1615, P = 0.000). In the group aged >=3 years, 4.0% (95% CI: 3.0%, 5.0%) of the individuals tested showed an IgG-PT level >=40 FDA-U/mL, which was equivalent to an estimated incidence of B. pertussis infection of 7000 (95% CI: 5300, 8800) per 100,000 population per year in the year before serum sampling. There were 2 peaks of estimated incidence. One peak incidence of 9100 (95% CI: 4300, 14000) per 100,000 population per year was found in the population aged >6 to 8 years. Another peak was in the population of 12- to 20-year olds with the estimated incidence of 14,600 (95% CI: 9100, 20100) per 100,000 per year.

Conclusions: The levels of protective antibodies against pertussis were very low in the immunized children aged 2 to 20 years. A booster dose of immunization for older children or adolescents should be an urgent priority. Moreover, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the efficiency of vaccines and even to obtain the serodiagnosis would be beneficial in controlling pertussis.

Source: Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal:
POST AUTHOR CORRECTIONS, 18 March 2011
doi: 10.1097/INF.0b013e31820eaf88.

VAN UK’s Comment: Children are given as many as 5 injections, in some countries the final one being at age 18 months and they say children aren’t immune by 2?

 Whooping Cough Vaccine Fades after 3 Years

The whooping cough vaccine given to babies and toddlers loses much of its effectiveness after just three years — a lot faster than doctors believed — and that could help explain a recent series of U.S. outbreaks among children who were fully vaccinated, a study suggests.

The study is small and preliminary, and its authors said the results need to be confirmed through more research. Nevertheless, the findings are likely to stir debate over whether children should get a booster shot earlier than now recommended.

“I was disturbed to find maybe we had a little more confidence in the vaccine than it might deserve,” said the lead researcher, David Witt, chief of infectious disease at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael, Calif. Dr. Witt presented his findings Monday at a conference in Chicago.

Source: Post-Gazette.com, 20 September 2011.

 5 Year old Vaccinated Child got Whooping Cough

Health officials confirm a student at Pink Hill Elementary School in Lenoir County has been diagnosed with Whooping Cough.

The Lenoir County Health Department tells Nine On Your Side a 5-year-old boy was diagnosed with Whooping Cough, or pertussis – a highly contagious bacterial infection. No word on when the child first became ill. Officials say the boy was previously vaccinated, and that chances of getting Whooping Cough with immunization is very unlikely.

They say he didn’t get all the doses due to vaccine reactions. Number of doses needed for immunity varies by country.

Source: Eyewitness News, 31st October 2011.

Whooping Cough Vaccine Fades after 3 Years

The whooping cough vaccine given to babies and toddlers loses much of its effectiveness after just three years — a lot faster than doctors believed — and that could help explain a recent series of U.S. outbreaks among children who were fully vaccinated, a study suggests.

The study is small and preliminary, and its authors said the results need to be confirmed through more research. Nevertheless, the findings are likely to stir debate over whether children should get a booster shot earlier than now recommended.

“I was disturbed to find maybe we had a little more confidence in the vaccine than it might deserve,” said the lead researcher, David Witt, chief of infectious disease at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael, Calif. Dr. Witt presented his findings Monday at a conference in Chicago.

The study was done in California, where whooping cough vaccinations are a hot-button issue. The state had a huge spike in whooping cough cases last year, during which more than 9,100 people fell ill and 10 babies died. California schools have turned away thousands of middle and high school students this fall who haven’t gotten their booster shot.

Government health officials recommend that children get vaccinated against whooping cough in five doses, with the first shot at age 2 months and the final one between 4 and 6 years. Then youngsters are supposed to get a booster shot around 11 or 12. That means a gap of five to eight years.

Dr. Witt’s study looked at roughly 15,000 children in Marin County, Calif., including 132 who got whooping cough last year. He found that youngsters who had gone three years or more since the last of their five original shots were as much as 20 times more likely to become infected than children who had been more recently vaccinated.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11263/1176014-114-0.stm#ixzz1dKvC1AXN

Source: New Microbiol. 2009 Jul;32(3):317-8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19845117

13 Kids Get Whooping Cough, ALL were Vaccinated

Thirteen kids in the Smithtown School District has contracted pertussis, a highly contagious bacterial infection also known as whooping cough, Suffolk County Health Commissioner James L. Tomarken announced Tuesday.

Cases were confirmed in St. James Elementary School, Tackan Elementary School and Nesaquake Middle School, and the health department has advised school officials to begin infection control measures.

According to the health department, all the infected children had been immunized, which explains why they only came down with mild cases of the infection.

Source: SmithtownPatch, 21 June 2011. http://smithtown.patch.com/articles/13-kids-contract-whooping-cough-at-smithtown-schools

VAN UK’s Comment: My 2nd daughter had whooping cough 14 years ago. Hers was a mild case and she was unvaccinated. That is just an excuse they use to explain why the vaccine doesn’t work.

82 People Get Whooping Cough, All were Vaccinated. Authorities Say ‘Still Get Your Vaccine!’ (Yes, that is such a good sales pitch, makes me want to get 10!).

Thursday, the Alamance County Health Department said they now have 82 confirmed cases. The Health Department also said all of those cases had previously received the pertussis vaccine.

The vaccination for whooping cough, also known as pertussis, has changed. Back in 1991, doctors reformulated the vaccine because some children were having severe reactions to the original vaccine.

“What we’re finding is that this vaccine is safer. But, the downside is that it’s not producing antibodies that are as protective as the old, cellular pertussis vaccine. The answer to everyone is…look, you still get the vaccine,” Guilford County Health Department Medical Director Ward Robinson said.

Source: Digtriad.com, 24th February 2012.

More kids in California Pertussis Epidemic Vaccinated

During a whooping cough outbreak in California in 2010, immunized children between eight and 12 years old were more likely to catch the bacterial disease than kids of other ages, suggesting that the childhood vaccine wears off as kids get older, according to new research.

“We have a real belief that the durability (of the vaccine) is not what was imagined,” said Dr. David Witt, an infectious disease specialist at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael, California, and senior author of the study.

Whooping cough, or pertussis, is caused by Bordetella pertussis bacteria. The infection produces an intense cough that lasts weeks and can lead to pneumonia, an inability to breathe or death — although most cases don’t reach such extremes.

In early 2010, a spike in cases appeared at Kaiser Permanente in San Rafael, and it was soon determined to be an outbreak of whooping cough — the largest seen in California in more than 50 years.

Witt had expected to see the illnesses center around unvaccinated kids, knowing they are more vulnerable to the disease.

“We started dissecting the data. What was very surprising was the majority of cases were in fully vaccinated children. That’s what started catching our attention,” said Witt.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/03/us-whoopingcough-idUSBRE8320TM20120403

 97.1% of Pertussis Cases were Fully Vaccinated, Doctors Don’t Know What Level of Antibodies Immunise

Of the 35 cases enrolled in our study, 23 were male (65.7%) and 12 were female (34.3%). Their ages varied between 2 months and 13 years (mean: 6.5 ± 3.9 years) (Table I). Three of the cases were aged ≤3 months. Four cases were aged <1 year. There were 4 cases in the age group 1-4, 11 cases in the age group 5-8, 11 cases in the age group 9-12, and 5 cases in the age group 13-16 (Table I). Thirty-four of the cases (97.1%) were fully vaccinated according to their ages. One case aged 2 months was not vaccinated.

Because antibody levels were tested qualitatively and semi-quantitatively in our study and 34 of the cases (97.1%) were fully vaccinated according to their ages, a cut-off value to determine whether the positivity in their antibody level was due to vaccination or infection could not be specified.

The fact that our cases did not include any patient with culture-confirmed pertussis may be attributed to the fact that 97.1% of the cases were fully vaccinated according to their ages.

PT is the single antigen that is specific for B. pertussis and it is considered that IgG antibodies developed against PT may be responsible for long-term immunity3,11,15. Although it has been reported that the detection of high levels of IgG antibodies against PT in a single serum sample is diagnostic of recent or acute infection with B. pertussis, when antibody levels according to age groups are known in the society19, the cut-off value indicating prevention has not yet been determined32.

Type IgM and IgG antibodies are produced after vaccination; however, the type IgA antibodies that develop after vaccination are in very low concentrations8,11. Although pertussis vaccines have been in use for a long time, reliable antibody levels that determine immunity have not yet been identified11.

Because antibody levels were tested qualitatively and semi-quantitatively in our study and 34 of the 35 cases (97.1%) were fully vaccinated according to their ages, a cutoff value to determine whether the positivity in their antibody level was due to vaccination or infection could not be specified.

Source: