By Jim Hall, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.
(MCT)
Sept. 25--Local health officials hope to better protect infants from whooping cough by
vaccinating the adults around them.
"We want to get all the teachers, teachers' aides, parents, day care
workers and grandparents," said Alyce Finch, immunization coordinator for the
Rappahannock Area Health District.
The health district is now offering the whoop- ing cough -- or pertussis
-- booster shot free to adults. The shots are given at local health department
offices during their regularly scheduled immunization clinics.
"Even though pertussis is primarily a childhood illness, we do know that
it happens in adults," said Dr. Brooke Rossheim, health district director.
Whooping cough continues to torment children across the state and nation,
though the disease appears to be less of a problem locally than it once was.
"Last year was a bad pertussis year," Rossheim said. "This year we've had
our share, but we haven't been overrun with calls."
The number of cases of whooping cough has jumped dramatically in recent
years, both in Virginia and in the United States.
"We've been on the increase since 2007," said Sandra Sommer, quality
assurance and policy manager for the Virginia Department of Health.
Twenty cases of pertussis were reported in the Rappahannock district
through August of this year. During the same period last year, 23 cases were
reported.
Statewide, 219 cases were reported for the first eight months of the
year, compared with 133 for the same period in 2010.
Sommer said there are several reasons for this increase:
The disease's natural cycle, which seems to produce an increase in cases
for several years, followed by a decrease. Each portion of the cycle lasts
three to five years.
The availability of a rapid lab test to identify the disease.
Increased awareness on the part of parents and doctors.
"Clinicians are looking for it," Sommer said.
There is also evidence that protection from the pertussis vaccine wanes
over time.
The Associated Press reported last week on a California study that found
that the risk of getting pertussis was up to 20 times higher in children three
years or more after they received the recommended series of vaccinations.
Children vaccinated more recently were better protected.
"I was disturbed to find maybe we had a little more confidence in the
vaccine than it might deserve," said Dr. David Witt, the lead researcher for
the study.
In younger children, the pertussis vaccine is included in the DTaP
vaccine, a series of five shots given at 2, 4 and 6 months, 15 to 18 months,
and 4 to 6 years of age.
The vaccine is also included in the Tdap shot, given as a booster to
sixth-graders and adults.
"Infants are very vulnerable," Sommer said. "They are hospitalized more
often than other age groups."
Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial infection, passed though the
cough droplets of an infected person. When children have the disease they can
have cough spasms, or long coughing fits. Frequently they make a high-pitched
wheeze or whoop when breathing in, hence the name whooping cough.
"It's a cough that goes on for weeks," Rossheim said.
The disease is treated with antibiotics, and parents are advised to keep
a sick child home from school for at least a week.
Jim Hall: 540/374-5433
Email: jhall@freelancestar.com
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Number of Fredericksburg-area cases, 2010
344
Number of cases in Virginia, 2010
27,550
Number of cases in U.S., 2010 -- Virginia Department of Health, CDC
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