It was recently reported in Virginia that cases of Pertussis (also known as "Whooping Cough") are on the increase, with 28 cases reported in the Central Shenandoah Valley Health District alone for the month of September and 246 cases reported statewide for the first 9 months of 2011.

Pertussis is a highly contagious bacterial disease common in the United States which can be fatal for infants or young children. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "periodic epidemics of pertussis occur every 3 to 5 years and frequent outbreaks. In 2010, 27,550 cases of pertussis were reported--and many more cases go unreported." http://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/outbreaks.html

A most pronounced symptom is severe coughing which causes children to make a distinctive whooping sound when attempting to breathe. The symptoms of pertussis are similar to those of a bad cold and may remain for several weeks, even sometimes up to 100 days. Because infants and young children are small, their airways are also small; if the airways become inflamed, the inflammation can literally cut off their air supply, according to Dr. Douglas Larsen director of the Central Shenandoah Valley Health District. (The Daily News Record, November 8, 2011, p. B1) Larsen and other pediatricians are encouraging parents to make sure children's vaccinations are current.

According to the CDC, shortages of the Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertussis (D-Tap) vaccine manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) were noted on CDC's list of vaccine shortages. As of May 2011, there were shortages of both GSK's syringe and vial presentations of the D-Tap vaccine which were expected to continue through July 2011, but it was noted that GSK expected to be able to meet the demand for routine usage of their vaccines. To date, CDC has not updated the information on the availability of the D-Tap vaccine on their website, so it falls to parents to check with their children's pediatrician about the pertussis incidence in the area where they live and where their children attend school, and also about the availability of the D-Tap vaccine. http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/shortages/default.htm#chart

There have been reports that the pertussis vaccine can wear off after three years, according to a September 19, 2011, article in The Deseret News by Mike Stobbe of the Associated Press, http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700180662/Whooping-cough-vaccination-fades.html.This was revealed after a serious outbreak of Pertussis occurred in California in 2010, where more than 9,100 people fell ill and 10 babies died. In a study performed by Dr. David Witt, chief of infectious disease at the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, San Rafael, California, it was estimated that of the 15,000 children studied, 80 percent of the children studied who got Pertussis were fully vaccinated. "Versions of the vaccine are made by two companies -- Sanofi Pasteur and GlaxoSmithKline. Both companies have acknowledged that the immunity conferred by the vaccine wanes over time," Stobbe's article points out.

Now "government health officials recommend that children get vaccinated against whooping cough in five doses, with the first shot at age 2 months and the final one between 4 and 6 years. Then children may get a booster shot at ages 11-12." CDC is encouraging children entering the sixth grade to get the D-Tap vaccine to protect against whooping cough. CDC officials stress that the vaccination is still much better than nothing -- and it reduces how sick a child becomes.

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