The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices released issued new recommendations to encourage pregnant women to get the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine (Tdap) during their pregnancy. Since most kids get whooping cough from a close family member, vaccinating parents (and teens) is one of the best ways to prevent infants, especially those who are too young [...]
Whooping Cough is making headlines again – with more than 18,000 cases in the U.S. and 600 cases so far this year in AZ. You might wonder why we continue to have lots of whooping cough cases in the US and AZ when the other vaccine preventable diseases are real rare (e.g. measles, mumps etc.). [...]
A team of Aussie scientists from the U of New South Wales believe that a new kind of Whooping Cough bacteria (Bordetella pertussis) has slipped past the protective effects from the current “acellular” vaccine- contributing to an increase in cases being found Down Under. Their study was published this week in the latest The Journal of Infectious [...]
When it comes to microbes- the whooping cough (pertussis) is a contrarian. Unlike most other pathogens- it does better in the summer than the winter. While most other infectious diseases are on the wane right now- whooping cough is whooping it up. We’ve been seeing an increase in whooping cough cases in Arizona this summer- [...]
Immunizations have been the most effective public health intervention of all time (followed by proper sewage treatment and garbage disposal). We celebrate our successes and sharpen our focus on doing an even better job executing this important intervention every year during National Infant Immunization Week- which is next week. Our overall objective is to encourage [...]
California has had 6,400 + cases of whooping cough (pertussis) and 10 infant deaths so far in 2010, which is the highest number of cases they've had since the age of immunizations began (about 60 years ago). Meanwhile, Arizona has had 361 cases and no deaths in 2010 compared to 277 cases in all of 2009. Even [...]
Whooping cough (pertussis) is a vaccine preventable disease that causes a severe and chronic cough. It’s a nuisance for adults and adolescents, but it’s potentially lethal for infants. California is having a serious outbreak right now with 4 times the normal number of cases this year. Our numbers are up too, but nothing like in [...]
