Whooping cough: it is essential to refresh your vaccination

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MunichEvery fifth child treated for persistent coughing suffers from whooping cough (pertussis), according to British researchers. Even if they were vaccinated against the infection in infancy. Those who have not received a booster vaccination are particularly at risk.

Whooping cough can manifest itself in violent, staccato-like attacks of the hustle or even vomiting. In older children and adults, however, it is often milder, so that it can be mistaken for bronchitis. However, infection can be fatal for infants. Therefore, vaccination against this highly contagious infection is recommended from the age of two months.

Immunization does not mean that you cannot become infected, but the risk of serious complications is lower. The vaccination protection decreases after about ten to 20 years. It is therefore important to re-vaccinate adults against whooping cough. Otherwise there is a risk that these infect their offspring.

Decreasing vaccination protection

Because that is often the case, confirmed a research team led by Kay Wang from the University of Oxford in a study with 279 children between the ages of five and 15 years. All children had seen their family doctor between 2010 and 2012 because of a cough that had persisted for weeks. It turned out that 56 of the young patients suffered from whooping cough. 39 of them had actually been vaccinated against pertussis. The vaccination did not seem to provide the desired protection.

When the researchers took a closer look at the numbers, they also discovered why. Because the longer it was before the immunization, the higher the probability of diagnosing pertussis as the cause of the cough. For example, if the first vaccination was seven years ago, the risk of whooping cough was three times higher than that of recently vaccinated children. “The results show how important a booster vaccination is for young adults and adults,” conclude the study authors.

Sick airways

Whooping cough is an acute bacterial infection that primarily affects the upper respiratory tract. It is transmitted via droplet infection. Whooping cough can lead to serious complications, especially in babies. These include otitis media, attacks of suffocation, and pneumonia. In individual cases it can lead to meningitis, can cause severe brain damage in children or even be fatal (jb)

Sources: Wang K. et al. Whooping cough in school age children presenting with persistent cough in UK primary care after introduction of the preschool pertussis booster vaccination: prospective cohort study. British Medical Journal (BMJ).

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