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If you think you shouldn't be worried about your child's?or your?lingering, nagging cough, think again. Pertussis has reemerged on the scene. In what some public health officials are calling the worst outbreak in 50 years, pertussis, better known by its unique sound?whooping cough, has been found in six states with 1,500 cases reported, six of them fatal.
It's probably time to check that immunization record.
"As parents, we should take every opportunity to get immunizations for our children?and ourselves?and get them in a timely fashion," says Lynnette Mazur, MD, professor of pediatrics at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "But, first, get your child to a doctor for a proper diagnosis if he or she has a runny nose or cough that lasts more than a week."
So, pertussis is back, huh. (Did it ever really go away?) Mazur says that although pertussis has always been with us, it is spreading this time around for three reasons: the weakening of the vaccine's protection over time, gaps in "herd immunity" and its high contagion factor.
"The vaccine has a limited effectiveness time span, lasting only six to10 years," Mazur says. "Outbreaks cycle every three to five years and then settle down. But it's always there."
She explains that for the pertussis vaccine to be effective against serious outbreak, "at least 92 to 94 percent of the community must be vaccinated." This defines the "herd" in herd immunity: The more contagious the disease, the greater the density needs to be of vaccinated populations.
"Pertussis is so contagious that the average number of secondary infection cases that are produced by a single index [first identified] case is 12 to 17," Mazur says.
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It's probably time to check that immunization record.
"As parents, we should take every opportunity to get immunizations for our children?and ourselves?and get them in a timely fashion," says Lynnette Mazur, MD, professor of pediatrics at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "But, first, get your child to a doctor for a proper diagnosis if he or she has a runny nose or cough that lasts more than a week."
So, pertussis is back, huh. (Did it ever really go away?) Mazur says that although pertussis has always been with us, it is spreading this time around for three reasons: the weakening of the vaccine's protection over time, gaps in "herd immunity" and its high contagion factor.
"The vaccine has a limited effectiveness time span, lasting only six to10 years," Mazur says. "Outbreaks cycle every three to five years and then settle down. But it's always there."
She explains that for the pertussis vaccine to be effective against serious outbreak, "at least 92 to 94 percent of the community must be vaccinated." This defines the "herd" in herd immunity: The more contagious the disease, the greater the density needs to be of vaccinated populations.
"Pertussis is so contagious that the average number of secondary infection cases that are produced by a single index [first identified] case is 12 to 17," Mazur says.
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