Whooping cough is a bacterial infection of the upper respiratory tract that is particularly lethal to infants and young children. It is caused by a bacteria named Bordatella pertussis and it is preventable by a vaccination. Although this vaccine works in preventing the spread of the disease, it is considered an endemic in the US, meaning it is always present. There was around 15,000 cases reported in 2018. The lack of vaccination keeps the disease from being eradicated and does not provide herd immunity for the immunocompromised, specifically infants.
The pertussis vaccine is called a toxoid. This is an inactivated version of the toxins the bacteria produces. It allows for your body to produce an immune response against the toxin so that if it were to come in contact with it again, it can kill it off before any infection occurs. There has been an updated version of the vaccine since the original that does not insert the entire dead bacterial cell into your body. This new vaccine produces lower side effects than the old “whole cell” version but it has been found to be slightly less effective on infants. This requires more booster doses to be given in order to protect your children.
Certain countries have now considered requiring prenatal vaccinations against the disease because of the increasing spread in infants. This would provide a type of passive immunity from mother to infant to help protect them. It would provide immunity for the first few months of life. This is the period that is vital to protect because infants can be the most susceptible. The need for herd immunity to help protect the young population is very important because they are helpless against the disease. If everyone were to receive their vaccinations at a young age, the herd immunity could be enacted and we would be protecting the immunocompromised as a community.
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