The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that the nation is on track for record rates of whooping cough cases. Twice as many cases have been reported so far in 2012 as at the same point last year, said a CDC official.¹ As a result, the CDC is urging pregnant women and anyone else likely to come into contact with young babies under 12 months of age to get booster shots to prevent whooping cough, even if they have been vaccinated in the past. That's because babies are most likely to die or be hospitalized when they get the highly contagious bacterial disease. All of the whooping cough fatalities that have occurred so far this year have been among babies who were too young to be fully vaccinated, and more than half of children diagnosed with whooping cough before their first birthday require hospitalization.¹

Vaccination recommendations

For children, the whooping cough vaccine (DTaP) is given in five doses, with the starting dose recommended at 2 months of age and the last dose recommended between the ages of 4 – 6 years. Compared to children who are fully vaccinated, unvaccinated children have eight times the risk for getting whooping cough, according to the CDC. When vaccinated children do come down with the disease, they tend to have milder symptoms and are less likely to pass their infection onto others. A booster tetanus, diphtheria toxoids, and acellular pertussis (Tdap) vaccine is available, but only about 8 percent of adults have gotten it, says a CDC representative. The CDC recommends that adults, particularly pregnant women and anyone who comes into contact with babies, get the vaccine. The Tdap booster can be given to adults ages 19 – 64 who have not received Tdap previously. Pregnant women should wait until their third trimester. If not given during pregnancy, then the dose should be given in the hospital after delivery, before the patient is discharged, or as soon as possible in the office.

AmeriHealth members are covered for whooping cough vaccinations

Both primary care providers and obstetricians will be reimbursed for the whooping cough vaccine for AmeriHealth members. We encourage you to give this vaccine to your patients, particularly to pregnant women and others who will be in contact with babies. We hope our members understand that by getting vaccinated, they can help to reduce the likelihood of spreading whooping cough to vulnerable populations, like young babies.

¹WebMD Health News. Boyles, S. Whooping cough heading to a 50-year high. http://children.webmd.com/news/20120719/cdc-whooping-cough-heading-to-5-decade-h igh. Accessed July 30, 2012.