The US government has replaced the vaccine with one that has fewer side effects but is less durable.
As summer vacation ends and schools return to normal in the United States, cases of whooping cough are rapidly increasing, U.S. health authorities announced. This is a recent report by CBS News and health webzine Health Day, based on an announcement from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A total of 291 cases were reported across the United States during the week of September 8-14. New York had the most, with 44, followed by Oklahoma with 40. Ohio had 39, and Pennsylvania had 38.
The total number of cases of whooping cough in the United States this year has reached 14,569. That’s more than four times the number reported at this time last year. It’s the first time this many cases have been reported since 2015.
Typically, the population most vulnerable to whooping cough is unvaccinated children and newborns born to unvaccinated mothers. But the CDC points out that the current problem in the United States is that breakthrough infections are increasing among fully vaccinated middle and high school students and adults.
The reason why the number of cases of whooping cough has continued to increase over the past several decades is because the United States has replaced the whooping cough vaccine with one that has fewer side effects but is less durable, CBS News reported.
In Pennsylvania, which has seen the largest number of whooping cough cases this year, the health department said in a health alert that “whooping cough has been primarily considered a childhood infection, but we have recently seen an increase in cases and hospitalizations among older adults.” New York is seeing similar developments. Outside of New York City, 40% of cases have been in children ages 15 to 19. Oklahoma, which has seen the largest increase in recent weeks, has seen an 86-year-old patient.
The surge in whooping cough cases comes as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) works to speed up the development of a more effective whooping cough vaccine. The CDC already recommends that all children and adults get a booster shot of the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) vaccine every 10 years.
U.S. health officials say there is a clear increase in cases of whooping cough, but there is no reason to panic yet. “Despite the resurgence of whooping cough, the current disease incidence rate is very low compared to the incidence reported in the pre-vaccine era,” FDA officials said in a briefing document prepared for the advisory panel.
Source: kormedi.com
