Health
Teens and pertussis
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 20, 2004
An international group of pertussis researchers is recommending that adolescents and some adults be vaccinated against whooping cough to help prevent transmission to infants. The Global Pertussis Initiative made the recommendation in the Dec. 15 Clinical Infectious Diseases.
Worldwide, about 300,000 people -- mostly infants -- die each year from whooping cough. While vaccinations prevent infections for a few years, immunity declines if booster shots aren't administered later in life. A recent upswing in pertussis infection among teenagers and adults has been noted in many parts of the United States.
The initiative made several recommendations to help control the disease. The group's goal for North America is to enhance immunity by introducing universal adolescent vaccination programs and by vaccinating certain target groups, such as parents and relatives of newborns, health care workers and childcare workers.
A new pertussis vaccine suitable for teenagers and adults was developed about five years ago. "Now's the time to actually start using it," said Kevin Forsyth, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and chair of the pediatrics department at Flinders Medical Center in Adelaide, Australia.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/12/20/hlbf1220.htm.
