Who needs a Whooping Cough Vaccine?

We know to get a flu shot and an H1N1 flu shot but what about a whooping cough vaccine? MPB’s Karen Brown speaks with Dr. Ted Epperly, President of the American Academy of Family Physicians on why you should consider protecting yourself and your loved ones from Pertussis.

Dr. Epperly: The CDC in Atlanta estimates there are about 600,000 cases of whooping cough that occur in the US each year. What we’re trying to help people understand is that kids get five vaccines up through pre-school, up through the first grade but that immunity wanes and wears off after five to ten years. Adolescents, in their late adolescent years and adults are absolutely vulnerable to this. It’s preventable by one vaccine that they get some time in this age span from late adolescence to adult with a single TDAP vaccine which stands for Tetanus,. Diphtheria and Pertussis – that’s what whooping cough is – Pertussis. They need to get that vaccine at some point in that age span.

Karen: Of those 600,000 cases is there a specific age group that’s hit harder?

Dr. Epperly: Yes, the most vulnerable are little kids before 6 months of life. Their immune system isn’t up to speed yet and it can be fatal in that age group. Where we see it the most is in those late adolescents and adults because their immunity is gone and then these people have these symptoms and cough and cough. They potentially have contact with these babies before 6 months of life and that’s a real red flag.

Karen: Has there been a resurgence of whooping cough in recent years or has it leveled out?

Dr. Epperly: It runs in cycles of about three to five years where it can peak and valley and what we’re seeing from the CDC is that this is a fairly stable thing with about that number of estimated cases. It’s not like it’s making a rampant reemergence as much as it’s a low background disease that a lot of people have stopped thinking about and paying attention to.

Karen: What causes whooping cough?

Dr. Epperly: It’s caused by a bacteria and leads to this very highly contagious respiratory disease. In the winter time when everybody crams together, out of the cold and into tight quarters, that’s when it can be most devastating because of its contagiousness. You can pass that on to other family members, people you work with, within schools and it can start epidemics and outbreak.

Karen: Is quarantining someone with whooping cough recommended?

Dr. Epperly: The advice is to keep them at home and keep them away from others for at least five days of antibiotic therapy.

Karen: You mentioned that children younger than 6 months can die from this?

Dr. Epperly: With all that coughing, it can cause them to become dehydrated. It can lead to pneumonia. I t can lead to bacteria in the blood stream. It can lead to seizures, encephalitis, which is a brain infection, and death. The primary cause of death is a pneumonia- like syndrome.

Karen: What are the dangers or complications of whooping cough in someone older, later adolescence or adulthood?

Dr. Epperly: In that age group, fortunately, it doesn’t lead to as high a mortality as it does in younger people. What it leaves these people with is this incredible cough that can rob them of sleep. It can prevent them from working. It can lead to broken ribs. You can actually end up vomiting. You can pass out from this. It’s primarily more of that nagging, persistent, incredible cough that can lead to dysfunction and loss of effectiveness in terms of job, school performance … things like that.

Karen: Does whooping cough strike a particular region or climate in the US?

Dr. Epperly: It’s all over the US but where we see it the most is in winter and in the colder climates where people can get pushed together inside closed areas. But it can happen from Florida to Washington, from California to Maine.

Karen: One dose for someone in adolescence or adulthood?

Dr. Epperly: Yes. The vaccine is called TDAP and can be given one time between the ages of 19 and 64.

Karen: There’s no shortage of the vaccine?

Dr. Epperly: Correct. What we’re trying to do with this educational program
is raise the attention awareness of people as well as physicians to be asking their patients or patients asking their physicians, “Do I need a vaccine to keep me up to date on Tetnaus, Diptheria and whooping cough” and the answer to that is “Yes” and there’s plenty of supply out there.