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.
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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.
IBC members are covered for whooping cough vaccinations
Both primary care providers and obstetricians will be reimbursed for the
whooping cough vaccine for IBC 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.