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Dr. Kim Mulvihill ReportingWhooping cough is making a dangerous comeback. The Utah Department of Health reports 38 cases this year, and one baby in California has already died of pertussis. A new booster shot may be on the horizon.
Thanks to childhood immunizations, many consider whooping cough a disease of the past. Pediatrician doctor Robert Schechter says the cough is something you never forget.
Dr. Robert Schechter, Pediatrician: “There will be a long coughing spell and then a big whoop at the end. When the disease is very severe the children have a hard time getting oxygen, getting air in, and oxygen in, which can lead,in the worst case, to seizures or brain injury or death."
Children are vaccinated, but not all kids get vaccinated, and immunity wanes over time.
Dr. Robert Schechter: "Children and teens who are 11, 12-years old and older no longer have protection against the disease."
And that can spell trouble. With most of the population lacking immunity, outbreaks happen. In fact, since the late seventies the number of cases reported to the CDC has more than doubled.
A miserable disease at any age, whooping cough is most serious to infants too young to be immunized.
Celia Woodfill, Ph.D., Epidemiologist: “Because there's more pertussis circulating there are more of the very small children who are being exposed and they are getting sick and they're being hospitalized. Almost 90% of those children are hospitalized and so that tells you how serious it is.”
While booster shots are recommended every ten years for diphtheria and tetanus, the pertussis vaccine is only licensed for children under seven. But that could be changing. The FDA is currently reviewing an application from the manufacturer to extend the use of the vaccine.
Doctor Celia Woodfill, an epidemiologist with the California Department of Health Services, doesn't believe every child or adult will need a booster shot. To limit the spread of infection, these shots are just one piece of the puzzle.
Dr. Celia Woodfill: “Educating doctors to recognize pertussis when they see it and to treat it properly, and educating the community about pertussis so that to promote vaccination and to seek medical care if somebody in their family has it, and to just promote respiratory hygiene.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Dr. Schechter who stresses the importance of keeping people with respiratory infections away from very small children.
Booster shots for pertussis are currently available in Canada and several European countries. Antibiotics will help shorten the illness and prevent the spread to others.
