Parents should have a whooping cough booster to protect babies

[Guest guest]

Next they'll bring out a pertussis vaccine for neonates and get them as they

re born!

http://www.telegraph.co

uk/health/children_shealth/3531013/Parents-should-have-a-whooping-cough-boost

r-to-protect-babies.html

Parents should have a whooping cough booster to protect babies

Parents should have a whooping cough booster in order to protect their

newborn babies, according to a group of paediatricians.

By , Medical Editor

Last Updated: 7:13PM GMT 27 Nov 2008

Doctors at Royal Hospital for Sick Children, in Edinburgh have reported two

deaths of young babies from whooping cough, named after the distinctive

sound of the cough, after apparently contracting it from their parents or

older siblings.

The infants were too young to have been vaccinated themselves as the first

dose is given at two months of age with repeat doses at three months, four

months and four years.

Ulf Theilen, Consultant in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at the

hospital and colleagues wrote in the British Medical Journal that cases of

whooping cough, known as pertussis, among adults is increasing and they are

the main source of infection for unimmunised infants. They documented the

deaths of a one month old boy and a six week old girl who both deteriorated

rapidly and died in intensive care despite the best efforts of medical staff

He said records have found five other deaths in infants in an 18 month

period although the disease may not be identified and may contribute to

cases labelled as cot deaths.

Dr Theilen wrote: " This report shows the devastating course of infantile

invasive pertussis.

" Despite modern paediatric intensive care, mortality remains high for young

infants developing invasive pertussis.

" The best solution is to prevent infection. Introducing an adolescent

pertussis booster, as adopted in several countries, or more targeted

vaccination of household contacts of this most vulnerable group should be

carefully considered. "

Dr Theilen said cases of whooping cough in adolescents and adults is

increasing in many countries and where infants contract the disease it is

most often from their parents. He said it is probably because the parents'

own immunity has waned since they were vaccinated as children.

In the UK Government vaccine advisors looked at the pertussis vaccination

programme and advised against introducing boosters as there was no increase

in cases of the infection amongst adolescents or adults.

Data from the Health Protection Agency show there were 618 confirmed cases

of pertussis in England and Wales in 2007 and incidents were consistently

highest in children under three months of age. The HPA recorded two deaths

in 2006.

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “The Joint Committee for

Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) looked last year at the possibility of

introducing a booster vaccination against whooping cough for adolescents and

parents of young babies. The Committee decided not to recommend any changes

to our current whooping cough immunisation schedule but to continue

monitoring the situation carefully.

“Recent statistics do not indicate a rise in the number of whooping cough

cases. In fact, whooping cough rates have continued to go down following the

introduction of the preschool booster, and benefits have also been seen from

the accelerated schedule.”

A spokeswoman for the Health Protection Agency said:“In 2007, 165 babies

aged three months and under were hospitalised with a severe whooping cough

infection; this number has significantly decreased since 1998 when there

were 452 babies aged three months and under admitted to hospital with the

infection.

“The Agency has observed an increase in the total number of notifications of

whooping cough in the last year, however this is thought to be as a result of

the three new diagnostic tests which were introduced in June of 2007 which have

made the whooping cough tests more robust and more reliable.”