Atlanta, GA – Federal health officials say more than 21,000 people got whooping cough last year, many of them children and teens. That’s the highest number since 2005 and among the worst years in more than 50 years.
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The new numbers were reported at a vaccine advisory committee meeting in Atlanta. Health experts are puzzled by the recent spike in cases. The vaccine against whooping cough is highly effective in children, and vaccination rates for kids are considered good.
The disease is very contagious and in rare cases can be fatal, especially for babies too young to be vaccinated. Whooping cough starts like a cold but leads to severe coughing that can last for weeks.
That’s because many people stopped vaccinating their children.
Notice – it says that vaccination rates are “good.”
That is not what the reports show….most people still vaccinate for pertussis (and diphtheria and tetanus) even if they skip others.
Secular said…That’s because many people stopped vaccinating their children.
The article actually states the following;
The vaccine against whooping cough is highly effective in children, and vaccination rates for kids are considered good.
I was about 40 when I caught it. I had 4 shots as a child.
My doc had it a few months before me.
Maybe the shots need to be updated.
Vaccination is “highly effective” in children?! What?
They get about 80% effectiveness after the full series of shots, which isn’t finished until well after the “danger zone” of contracting whooping cough. (Which may be dangerous in children under 6 months.) And even that effectiveness may wear off, but the boosters are not often given.