Study: Whooping cough vaccine loses punch too fast
NEW YORK (AP) - As the U.S. wrestles with its biggest whooping cough outbreak in decades, researchers appear to have zeroed in on the main reason: The safer vaccine that has been in use since the 1990s loses effectiveness much faster than previously thought.
A study published in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine found that the protective effect weakens dramatically soon after a youngster gets the last of the five recommended shots around age 6.
The protection rate falls from about 95 percent to 71 percent within five years, said researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Research Center in Oakland, Calif.
The U.S. has had more than 26,000 whooping cough cases so far this year, including more than 10,000 in children ages 7 to 10.
"The substantial majority of the cases are explained by this waning immunity," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.
In light of the findings and earlier, similar research, health officials are considering recommending another booster shot for children, strengthening the vaccine or devising a brand new one.
But "there's nothing in the pipeline that's close," said Dr. Tom Clark of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children. Its name comes from the sound youngsters make as they gasp for breath.
It used to be common, causing hundreds of thousands of illnesses annually and thousands of deaths. Cases dropped after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s, and for decades, fewer than 5,000 a year were reported in the U.S.
Because of side effects that included pain and swelling at the injection site, fever and apparently, in rare cases, brain damage, the vaccine was replaced in the 1990s. The newer version used only parts of the bacterium instead of the whole thing and carried fewer complications.
But cases of whooping cough began to climb, sometimes topping 25,000 a year during the past decade. Also disturbing: The proportion of cases involving children ages 7 to 10 - most of them vaccinated - rose from less than 10 percent before 2006 to nearly 40 percent this year, according to the CDC.
Dr. Nicola Klein and her colleagues looked at children ages 4 to 12 who received their health care through Kaiser Permanente Northern California from 2006 to 2011. They compared 277 fully vaccinated youngsters who got whooping cough to similar, vaccinated children who didn't.
The researchers found that the risk of getting whooping cough increases by about 42 percent a year after a child's last dose of vaccine.
The shortcomings in the vaccine did not become apparent until recently, when researchers had the benefit of several years of data uncorrupted by youngsters who received the old version.
Health officials have long recommended that children get vaccinated in five doses, with the first shot at 2 months and the final one between 4 and 6 years, and receive a booster shot at 11 or 12.
Now there's a growing consensus that something more needs to be done. Ideas include somehow pumping up the effectiveness of the vaccine or developing a new one. French scientists have been working on an experimental nasal spray vaccine.
Other ideas include administering the booster earlier than age 11 or adding another booster.
While some parents around the country have taken a stand against childhood vaccines, the outbreak is not being driven by unvaccinated children, according to the CDC. Most of the illnesses are in vaccinated youngsters, officials said.
Dr. Maxine Hayes, health officer for the Washington State Department of Health, said it is important that people not mistake waning immunity for flat-out ineffectiveness.
The vaccine is "still the best thing we have," she said. And vaccinated people who get whooping cough don't get as sick.
Omar Gonzalez of North Richland Hills, Texas, has become a believer in the vaccine, even though his fully vaccinated 11-year-old son caught whooping cough three years ago.
"Imagine seeing your son gasping for air," Gonzalez said. "This is really bad."
Gonzalez, who runs an investment company from his home, spent weeks caring for his son and then got sick himself.
"You don't want this, man, I'm telling you. It's scary," he said.
A study published in Wednesday's New England Journal of Medicine found that the protective effect weakens dramatically soon after a youngster gets the last of the five recommended shots around age 6.
The protection rate falls from about 95 percent to 71 percent within five years, said researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Vaccine Research Center in Oakland, Calif.
The U.S. has had more than 26,000 whooping cough cases so far this year, including more than 10,000 in children ages 7 to 10.
"The substantial majority of the cases are explained by this waning immunity," said Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University.
In light of the findings and earlier, similar research, health officials are considering recommending another booster shot for children, strengthening the vaccine or devising a brand new one.
But "there's nothing in the pipeline that's close," said Dr. Tom Clark of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious bacterial disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children. Its name comes from the sound youngsters make as they gasp for breath.
It used to be common, causing hundreds of thousands of illnesses annually and thousands of deaths. Cases dropped after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s, and for decades, fewer than 5,000 a year were reported in the U.S.
Because of side effects that included pain and swelling at the injection site, fever and apparently, in rare cases, brain damage, the vaccine was replaced in the 1990s. The newer version used only parts of the bacterium instead of the whole thing and carried fewer complications.
But cases of whooping cough began to climb, sometimes topping 25,000 a year during the past decade. Also disturbing: The proportion of cases involving children ages 7 to 10 - most of them vaccinated - rose from less than 10 percent before 2006 to nearly 40 percent this year, according to the CDC.
Dr. Nicola Klein and her colleagues looked at children ages 4 to 12 who received their health care through Kaiser Permanente Northern California from 2006 to 2011. They compared 277 fully vaccinated youngsters who got whooping cough to similar, vaccinated children who didn't.
The researchers found that the risk of getting whooping cough increases by about 42 percent a year after a child's last dose of vaccine.
The shortcomings in the vaccine did not become apparent until recently, when researchers had the benefit of several years of data uncorrupted by youngsters who received the old version.
Health officials have long recommended that children get vaccinated in five doses, with the first shot at 2 months and the final one between 4 and 6 years, and receive a booster shot at 11 or 12.
Now there's a growing consensus that something more needs to be done. Ideas include somehow pumping up the effectiveness of the vaccine or developing a new one. French scientists have been working on an experimental nasal spray vaccine.
Other ideas include administering the booster earlier than age 11 or adding another booster.
While some parents around the country have taken a stand against childhood vaccines, the outbreak is not being driven by unvaccinated children, according to the CDC. Most of the illnesses are in vaccinated youngsters, officials said.
Dr. Maxine Hayes, health officer for the Washington State Department of Health, said it is important that people not mistake waning immunity for flat-out ineffectiveness.
The vaccine is "still the best thing we have," she said. And vaccinated people who get whooping cough don't get as sick.
Omar Gonzalez of North Richland Hills, Texas, has become a believer in the vaccine, even though his fully vaccinated 11-year-old son caught whooping cough three years ago.
"Imagine seeing your son gasping for air," Gonzalez said. "This is really bad."
Gonzalez, who runs an investment company from his home, spent weeks caring for his son and then got sick himself.
"You don't want this, man, I'm telling you. It's scary," he said.
ACK! I'm supposed to get the DPT tomorrow. I'm not sure I want it . :|
 @Alikelystorey It's going to be better than getting NO vaccination!
I'm so glad this article came out today. I was reading the Kitsap Sun about a case being reported in a Bainbridge Island school and sure enough, the very first post under it stated..."really people? Too smart to protect your own kids from illness? #vaccinateyourkids"
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My daughter caught whooping cough when she was only a few months old, too young to have been fully vaccinated. One of my sons caught it even though he had been vaccinated. And to top it off, I then got it even though I had been vaccinated not only when a child, but then again when I joined the Army.Â
"While some parents around the country have taken a stand against childhood vaccines, the outbreak is not being driven by unvaccinated children, according to the CDC. Most of the illnesses are in vaccinated youngsters, officials said."
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I am glad they added this part. I can't count the number of times I've read this year, "it's all because of idiot parents who refuse to vaccinate!". Think what you want about parents who don't vaccinate, but don't blame them for things that aren't their fault.Â
 @LunchWithABear People are so quick to call parents who don't vaccinate or who feel that some of these vaccines are a little questionable.  I think that questioning them is not idiotic but much the contrary, you are the only one who is going to look out for your health these days.  The medical field has helped many with medical advancement but it can change on a dime, it seems one day something is safe and the next, oops it's not.  I say do what is right for you and your family and it's no ones business.  People who aren't vaccinated are not public enemy number one and are no more of a threat to you anyone else.
 @LunchWithABear Indeed. I have a friend who runs a daycare and she has to be really careful about sickness. They have found that a lot of the kids who get sick with various diseases are those who are vaccinated against them. People need to remember that the vaccines are not perfect by any means and have risks ranging from totally mild to death. Its not a for or against thing its about knowing what the risks are making that decision.
I guess I am really confused as to why a vaccine has to be administered 5 times and now 6 times to be effective in this day and age? Â Also it is a combo vaccine for tetnus and diptheria as well, so how do we know it is effective for those diseases if it is not effective for whooping cough? Â Maybe the combo vaccination for this disease is not the answer, maybe they should just have a whooping cough vaccine. Â Again, I am confused does it take up to six years to be fully effective with the last dose? Â Then you have to get another one at 11? Â Then what never again? or do you have to get one as an adult again? Â Also adults today got a different shot when they were young, would the tdap booster even work for them?
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I hate to say I told you so, but......