Pertussis vaccine may not be as effective as expected
Jul 19, 2012, 10:13 AM | Updated: 11:55 am
A new report on Washington's whooping cough epidemic reveals that the vaccine is not as effective as hoped. (AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
A new report on Washington’s whooping cough epidemic
reveals that the vaccine is not as effective as hoped.
The new report from the Centers for Disease Control reveals that many 10-year-olds and 13-to-
14-year-olds are catching the respiratory disease before
getting their regularly scheduled booster shot. It’s
possible a change in the
type of vaccine given in the 1970s might have impacted the
duration of vaccine protection.
However, Dr. Anne Schuchat, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases emphasizes that the vaccine is still the best protection
available.
“Our pertussis vaccines are not perfect. They don’t
provide protection for as long as we wish they would. This
adds to our challenges during this time of increased
disease,” she says.
The pertussis epidemic has now topped 3,000 cases
in Washington and Schuchat says waning of immunity or
waning of protection over time might be part of that
equation.
Still, health experts say unvaccinated children are at an
eight times greater risk of getting pertussis. To help
slow the rate of contraction, the state is conducting an
aggressive education campaign.
“Reports from health plans in our state, along with
the information from our immunization registry, show the
number of adults getting Tdap vaccines is way up from last
year, but I want more,” says Mary Selecky, Secretary of
the Washington State Department of Health.
